LGT Group Foundation Purchases 17,397 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Key Points

• LGT Group Foundation increased its position in Meritage Homes shares by 89.5% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 36,829 shares valued at $2.61 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Meritage Homes, with price targets ranging from $60 to $107 and an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Meritage Homes declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.3%.

LGT Group Foundation raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 89.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,829 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 17,397 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation owned about 0.05% of Meritage Homes worth $2,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 166.5% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 77.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 329.9% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 246.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dennis V. Arriola bought 2,200 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.00 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $665,840. This trade represents a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MTH. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $87.71.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.03. 913,514 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 988,667. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 1.29. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $106.99. The business's 50-day moving average is $69.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.83.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.15 earnings per share. Meritage Homes's quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.47%.

Meritage Homes Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.