Amundi Acquires 12,197 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Amundi lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 63.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,478 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,197 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter valued at about $29,971,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter valued at about $3,674,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 134.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,658 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 22,162 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 108.2% during the first quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 7,754 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 4,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centric Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 52.5% during the first quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 17,784 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 6,120 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $81.18 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.44 and its 200-day moving average is $70.21. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 1.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 15.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MTH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

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