Connable Office Inc. Purchases 2,962 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Connable Office Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 100.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,924 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,962 shares during the period. Connable Office Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 166.5% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 77.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 329.9% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.13.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 5.7%

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $71.21 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $67.90 and a 200 day moving average of $70.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The company has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 1.29.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 10.27%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued 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 is 15.47%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at $665,840. The trade was a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.