Rafferty Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation by 110.5% in Q1, now holding shares valued at $3.65 million.
• Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares at an average price of $70.00, while CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares at $80.01, indicating mixed insider trading activity.
• Meritage Homes has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 15.47%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 110.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,501 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 27,035 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Meritage Homes worth $3,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 96.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,999,889 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $567,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925,148 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 93.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,926,900 shares of the construction company's stock worth $207,456,000 after buying an additional 1,417,024 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.1% during the 1st quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company's stock worth $101,668,000 after buying an additional 695,355 shares during the last quarter. Long Pond Capital LP increased its position in Meritage Homes by 592.7% during the first quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 1,125,995 shares of the construction company's stock worth $79,811,000 after acquiring an additional 963,438 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Meritage Homes by 278.1% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,071,802 shares of the construction company's stock worth $75,969,000 after acquiring an additional 788,323 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $556,069.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 221,320 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,707,813.20. The trade was a 3.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 6.2%

NYSE MTH traded up $4.79 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $81.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,307,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 828,332. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.96. The stock has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 1.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.15 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.71.

About Meritage Homes

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.