Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Invests $1.17 Million in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Meritage Homes Corporation, purchasing 16,500 shares valued at approximately $1.17 million during the first quarter.
• Meritage Homes announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, which will be paid on September 30th, representing an annualized yield of 2.2%.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Meritage Homes, with price targets ranging from $60 to $100 and a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 16,500 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $1,170,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 166.5% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 77.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 329.9% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 246.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock worth $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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 research note on Monday, July 28th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush reduced their target price 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, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.00 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at $665,840. This represents a 30.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $556,069.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 221,320 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,707,813.20. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE:MTH traded down $2.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $78.85. 706,607 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 894,387. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $74.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.23. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1 year low of $59.27 and a 1 year high of $106.99. The company has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 1.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.