Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 155,990 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its Meritage Homes stake by 2.0% in Q4, selling 155,990 shares and ending the quarter with 7,701,733 shares (about 10.94%) valued at $506.8 million.
• Meritage missed quarterly estimates, reporting $0.86 EPS vs. $0.98 expected and revenue of $1.12 billion vs. $1.55 billion consensus, with revenue down 17.5% year-over-year.
• Dividend raised amid insider selling — the company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.48 (annualized $1.92, ~3.0% yield) while insiders sold 47,622 shares in the past 90 days, including CEO Phillippe Lord's 32,820-share sale.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,701,733 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 155,990 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.94% of Meritage Homes worth $506,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 194.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 808 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $64.14 on Wednesday. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.03 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The business has a 50 day moving average of $66.31 and a 200-day moving average of $69.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.43.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is an increase from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is 35.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MTH shares. Zacks Research raised Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group set a $86.00 price target on Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a "market outperform" rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.89.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total value of $2,510,401.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 260,389 shares in the company, valued at $19,917,154.61. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total transaction of $272,939.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,425,844.40. This represents a 7.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,622 shares of company stock valued at $3,640,273. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meritage Homes Company 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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