Raymond James Financial Inc. Has $6.06 Million Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation by 101.2%, acquiring an additional 42,966 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 85,426 shares worth $6.05 million.
• Multiple institutional investors significantly boosted their stakes in Meritage, with Vanguard Group Inc. increasing its position by 96.3%, now owning nearly 8 million shares valued at $567 million.
• Meritage Homes announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, presenting an annualized yield of 2.2% for shareholders of record on September 16th.

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 101.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,426 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 42,966 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.12% of Meritage Homes worth $6,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 136.0% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,901 shares of the construction company's stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,248 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.7% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,325 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 15,218 shares during the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 810 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 151.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,202 shares of the construction company's stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.9%

Meritage Homes stock traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $82.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 335,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 984,243. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $73.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.97. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The company has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is 15.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. 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. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Wedbush decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on 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 Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.71.

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.