Neo Ivy Capital Management Invests $600,000 in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,278 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 366.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,489 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 11.4% during the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 201.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $67.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.35. The stock has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.46. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $84.74. 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 (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.72 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total transaction of $2,510,401.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,389 shares in the company, valued at $19,917,154.61. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total value of $272,939.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,844.40. This represents a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial started coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Two equities research analysts have 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. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.33.

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.