Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC cut its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 63.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 26,206 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MTH. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the second quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at $64,000. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE MTH opened at $177.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.82. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $137.70 and a 12 month high of $213.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.27.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.98 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MTH. Raymond James lowered shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $205.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush raised Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.17.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.