Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH Shares Acquired by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 84.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 107,394 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 49,101 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $7,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 22,162 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 51.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,937 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $917,000 after acquiring an additional 4,407 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $75,051,000 after purchasing an additional 391,297 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 111.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,971 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 17,343 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 102.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 319,150 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $22,621,000 after purchasing an additional 161,806 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 3.6%

Meritage Homes stock opened at $72.67 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.52. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 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. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1 year low of $59.27 and a 1 year 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 7.73%.The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.72 EPS. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 27.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total transaction of $272,939.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,844.40. This trade represents a 7.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $834,352.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 124,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,540,772.35. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,622 shares of company stock valued at $3,640,273. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on MTH shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group set a $95.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore set a $77.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp started coverage on Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.63.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.