UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC reduced its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,344 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,395 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.22% of Meritage Homes worth $24,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 211,043 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $43,279,000 after buying an additional 32,810 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,603 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 70.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,677 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,582 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $705,000 after buying an additional 998 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 118.4% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 15,838 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,436,000 after buying an additional 8,586 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $65.84 on Wednesday. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.47 and a 200-day moving average of $76.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.06%.

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.