LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Makes New $921,000 Investment in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,897 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MTH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,901,851 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $190,943,000 after acquiring an additional 16,338 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,465,340 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $96,419,000 after purchasing an additional 12,386 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 58.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,423,013 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $95,299,000 after purchasing an additional 527,265 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $75,051,000 after purchasing an additional 391,297 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,053,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $75.59 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.03 and a 52-week high of $85.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $70.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.94.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 4.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $93.00 price target (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on Meritage Homes and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group set a $86.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $79,066.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,147.74. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes 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.