Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Stock Holdings Raised by Mizuho Markets Americas LLC

Key Points

• Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 59.6%, now owning 213,719 shares valued at approximately $15.1 million.
• Meritage Homes reported a net margin of 10.27% and earnings per share of $2.04 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.99.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.4%.

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 59.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 213,719 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 79,821 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC owned about 0.30% of Meritage Homes worth $15,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 427.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,241 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,627 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at about $217,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 55.5% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 179,312 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $12,710,000 after buying an additional 63,982 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 96.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 140,200 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $9,937,000 after buying an additional 68,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 73.6% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 21,145 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,499,000 after buying an additional 8,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Dennis V. Arriola bought 2,200 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.00 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $665,840. The trade was a 30.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MTH traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $71.65. The company had a trading volume of 745,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,261,676. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.78. Meritage Homes Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is presently 15.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.13.

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.