Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Shares Bought by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank significantly increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 149% in Q1, owning 26,672 shares valued at approximately $1.89 million.
• Meritage Homes reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, beating estimates and achieving a net margin of 10.27%, although revenue declined 4.6% year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43, representing an annualized yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 15.47%.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 149.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,672 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 15,959 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 56.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 10,265 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 3,687 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,349,000 after acquiring an additional 78,087 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 266,967 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,065,000 after acquiring an additional 39,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 246,813 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $37,965,000 after acquiring an additional 4,831 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $70.00 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at $665,840. This represents a 30.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.13.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock traded up $1.47 during trading on Monday, reaching $72.60. The company had a trading volume of 778,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,419. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $67.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.15. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.