Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Holdings Decreased by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 63.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH opened at $177.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a PE ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $193.54 and a 200-day moving average of $184.27. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $137.70 and a 52-week high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wedbush raised Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.17.

Meritage Homes 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.