UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Trims Position in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lessened its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 155,724 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 24,756 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $13,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $112,498,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,053,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at approximately $68,873,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 527,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.6% during the first 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.1%

Meritage Homes stock opened at $67.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.00. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.03 and a 1-year high of $85.38. The company has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 6.11%.The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s revenue was down 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $93.00 target price (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.25.

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.