Assetmark Inc. Acquires 363 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 166.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 581 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $41,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 77.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 329.9% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 246.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MTH shares. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.13.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 2.1%

MTH stock opened at $72.60 on Tuesday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.09. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.29.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.15 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 15.47%.

Insider Activity

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

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.