Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH Shares Purchased by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 20.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 48,332 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 8,199 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 134.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,658 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 22,162 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 4,407 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 58.6% during the 1st 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. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 111.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,971 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 17,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 102.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 319,150 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $22,621,000 after purchasing an additional 161,806 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MTH. Zacks Research cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group set a $95.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 124,961 shares in the company, valued at $9,540,772.35. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,917,154.61. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH stock opened at $68.11 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $84.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.29.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.22%.

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.