Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC Purchases 362 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 13.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,029 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush raised shares of Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.17.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $184.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 1.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $192.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.28. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $137.70 and a 1 year 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.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. Meritage Homes’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.58%.

About Meritage Homes

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.