Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $16.27 Million Position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 154.5% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.32% of the company valued at $16.27 million.
• Insider activity included Director Dennis V. Arriola acquiring 2,200 shares at $70.00 each, enhancing his shares by 30.09% to 9,512 shares in total.
• Meritage Homes reported an EPS of $2.04 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, despite a 4.6% decline in year-over-year revenue.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 154.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 229,501 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 139,318 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.32% of Meritage Homes worth $16,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.8% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,439 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 136.0% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,901 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 2,248 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.7% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,325 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,149,000 after purchasing an additional 15,218 shares in the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 182.0% in the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 1,255 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 151.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,202 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MTH shares. Bank of America started coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at $665,840. This trade represents a 30.09% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE MTH traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.03. 913,514 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,236,722. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $106.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

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

Meritage Homes Company 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.