Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Shares Acquired by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 41.7% after acquiring an additional 19,404 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 65,895 shares valued at approximately $4.67 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Choreo LLC and Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky, also boosted their holdings in Meritage Homes, which is now primarily owned by institutional investors at 98.44%.
• Meritage Homes reported a net margin of 10.27% and earnings of $2.04 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates, despite revenue declining by 4.6% from the previous year.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 41.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,895 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 19,404 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.09% of Meritage Homes worth $4,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Meritage Homes by 77.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 329.9% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 246.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In related news, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $665,840. The trade was a 30.09% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Keough acquired 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, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.78.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of MTH stock traded down $0.43 on Thursday, reaching $67.54. 293,464 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 980,311. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business's 50 day moving average price is $67.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 1.37. Meritage Homes Corporation has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during 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 was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.47%.

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.