Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its Meritage Homes stake by 0.8% in the first quarter, though it still owned 2.88 million shares valued at about $178 million, or roughly 4.31% of the company.
• Meritage Homes missed on its latest quarterly results, reporting EPS of $0.86 versus $0.98 expected and revenue of $1.12 billion versus $1.55 billion expected; revenue also fell 17.5% from a year earlier.
• Analysts remain mixed on the stock, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $79, despite some firms like Goldman Sachs and UBS maintaining bullish targets.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,877,968 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 23,883 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 4.31% of Meritage Homes worth $177,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 265.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 194.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 43.9% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 774 shares of the construction company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $72.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.35. The company's fifty day moving average price is $72.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.96. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.03 and a 1 year high of $85.38.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $79,066.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,147.74. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MTH. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $93.00 price target (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group set a $86.00 price objective on Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zelman & Associates cut Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.00.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company's core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.

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