Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH Shares Purchased by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 117.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,293 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,028 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $6,531,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 21,576 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 173.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,731 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 408.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 29,364 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,449,000 after purchasing an additional 23,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at $9,998,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 9,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $665,840. The trade was a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 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. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MTH. Bank of America assumed coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $74.7750 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.72 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $70.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.73. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1 year low of $59.27 and a 1 year high of $106.99.

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

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.47%.

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.