The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires Shares of 35,213 Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company initiated a position in Meritage Homes by purchasing 35,213 shares valued at approximately $2.95 million. Institutional investors collectively own 98.44% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans neutral: five analysts rate the stock a Buy and seven rate it Hold, with an average price target of $79.25. UBS reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $88.
• Meritage Homes shares opened at $67.60, down 2.6%, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $1.42, beating estimates, despite revenue declining 14.1% year over year. It also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, yielding about 2.8% annually.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 35,213 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $2,953,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.05% of Meritage Homes at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Essential Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 163.8% in the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 401 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 194.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 774 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research raised Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Meritage Homes from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 2.6%

MTH opened at $67.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.17. Meritage Homes Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.03 and a twelve month high of $85.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a PEG ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 1.36.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 7.13%. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.17%.

Meritage Homes 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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