Greenhaven Associates Inc. Buys 12,386 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,465,340 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 12,386 shares during the quarter. Meritage Homes comprises approximately 1.6% of Greenhaven Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Greenhaven Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $96,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 194.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 366.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,489 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $58.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.28, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.42. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.03 and a 52 week high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The business’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total value of $2,510,401.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,917,154.61. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $834,352.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 124,961 shares in the company, valued at $9,540,772.35. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MTH. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group set a $95.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.33.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.