Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 5,086 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,008 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,086 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Meritage Homes worth $4,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 96.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,999,889 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $567,032,000 after acquiring an additional 3,925,148 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 93.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,926,900 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $207,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,024 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.0% in the second quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,491,955 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $99,916,000 after purchasing an additional 57,587 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 95.7% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,352,648 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $95,876,000 after purchasing an additional 661,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Long Pond Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 592.7% in the first quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 1,125,995 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $79,811,000 after purchasing an additional 963,438 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.86.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE:MTH opened at $70.45 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.19. The company has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.42. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $101.59.

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

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 15.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at $665,840. This represents a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $17,707,813.20. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by 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.