Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Acquires 94,570 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Vaughan Nelson Investment Management increased its Meritage Homes stake by 16.3% in Q1, buying 94,570 more shares and bringing its total to 675,770 shares valued at about $41.8 million.
• Meritage Homes reported weaker-than-expected Q1 results, with earnings of $0.86 per share on revenue of $1.12 billion, both below analyst estimates, and revenue falling 17.5% from a year earlier.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, while analysts currently have a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $79.89.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 16.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 675,770 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 94,570 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned 1.01% of Meritage Homes worth $41,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 10,627 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,559 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,916 shares of the construction company's stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $75.77 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.97. The stock has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.03 and a 12 month high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.08%. Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $79,066.03. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at $474,147.74. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $86.00 price target on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.89.

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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