QRG Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,658 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 96.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,999,889 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $567,032,000 after buying an additional 3,925,148 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 93.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,926,900 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $207,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,024 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,491,955 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $99,916,000 after acquiring an additional 57,587 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 95.7% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,352,648 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $95,876,000 after acquiring an additional 661,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Long Pond Capital LP increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 592.7% during the 1st 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 2.1%

Meritage Homes stock opened at $66.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1 year low of $59.27 and a 1 year high of $102.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $75.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.25.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.15 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 15.47%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.00 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at $665,840. The trade was a 30.09% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $556,069.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 report on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $82.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.86.

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.