Aberdeen Group plc Makes New $18.95 Million Investment in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Aberdeen Group plc bought a new stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 260,500 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,949,000. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.37% of Meritage Homes at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 58.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,423,013 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $95,299,000 after acquiring an additional 527,265 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth $75,148,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $75,051,000 after purchasing an additional 391,297 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,000,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $66,970,000 after buying an additional 500,000 shares during the period. Finally, Dendur Capital LP raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 55.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dendur Capital LP now owns 876,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,666,000 after buying an additional 312,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $79.02 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50 day moving average is $72.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.40.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 7.73%.The company’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $77.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.63.

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.