Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Has $4.67 Million Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

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% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,895 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,404 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.09% of Meritage Homes worth $4,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,074,741 shares of the construction company's stock worth $626,777,000 after acquiring an additional 26,889 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.1% in the 1st quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company's stock worth $101,668,000 after acquiring an additional 695,355 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 710,281 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $50,345,000 after purchasing an additional 304,427 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $101,695,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 95.9% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 598,694 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $42,435,000 after purchasing an additional 293,089 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $70.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,600,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,198,528. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.37. Meritage Homes Corporation has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $106.99. The stock's 50-day moving average is $67.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.16.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is presently 15.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush reduced 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 note on Friday. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.78.

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.