Peak Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 23,204 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Peak Financial Advisors LLC boosted its Meritage Homes stake by 234.7% in Q4, acquiring 23,204 shares to hold 33,090 shares worth about $2.18 million.
• Insiders sold shares: CEO Phillippe Lord offloaded 32,820 shares and CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares in late February (reductions of 11.19% and 8.04% respectively), with insiders selling 47,622 shares (~$3.64M) over the past 90 days.
• Meritage raised its quarterly dividend to $0.48 (ex-dividend March 17, payable March 31), equal to an annualized $1.92 and a roughly 3.1% yield.

Peak Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 234.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,090 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 23,204 shares during the quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 27,033 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 12,766 shares of the construction company's stock worth $840,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 45,669 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,005,000 after buying an additional 6,216 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 7,185 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,465,340 shares of the construction company's stock worth $96,419,000 after acquiring an additional 12,386 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group set a $95.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total value of $2,510,401.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 260,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,917,154.61. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $834,352.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 124,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,540,772.35. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $61.58 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.03 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.46.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 7.73%.The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.72 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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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