Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Shares Bought by XTX Topco Ltd

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 188.9%, acquiring an additional 9,747 shares, bringing its total holdings to 14,907 shares valued at approximately $1,057,000.
• Several institutional investors have significantly boosted their positions in Meritage Homes, including Federated Hermes and LPL Financial, leading to institutional ownership reaching 98.44%.
• Meritage Homes reported $2.04 earnings per share for the last quarter, which surpassed analysts' estimates, but reflected a 4.6% year-over-year decline in revenue.

XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 188.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,907 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,747 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MTH. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 56.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 10,265 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 3,687 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,349,000 after acquiring an additional 78,087 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 266,967 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,065,000 after acquiring an additional 39,522 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 246,813 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $37,965,000 after acquiring an additional 4,831 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MTH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,840. This represents a 30.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of MTH traded up $1.47 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $72.60. The company had a trading volume of 778,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,419. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1 year low of $59.27 and a 1 year high of $106.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $67.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.15.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 10.27%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.47%.

Meritage Homes 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.