Intech Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 65.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,259 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 45.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 9,136 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 97.2% in the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 10,379 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,117 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 216.7% in the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 190,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,337,000 after purchasing an additional 130,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 48.8% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 153,897 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,003,000 after purchasing an additional 50,459 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MTH. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.17.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $184.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 1.82. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $137.70 and a one year high of $213.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $192.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.28. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Meritage Homes’s 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.