Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates trimmed its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 12.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,794 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,664 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MTH. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth about $28,000. 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 worth $44,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth about $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MTH shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $205.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.17.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $190.79 on Wednesday. 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 capitalization of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.74. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $129.42 and a 1 year high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.98 EPS. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.16 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.58%.

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.