Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 192 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,985 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 22.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,874 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,259,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,347 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,898 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth approximately $215,000. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at approximately $10,486,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MTH. StockNews.com lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, August 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.17.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of MTH opened at $179.41 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $137.70 and a 52 week high of $213.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $193.78 and a 200-day moving average of $184.12. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 1.82.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 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.