Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH Stake Cut by Horizon Investments LLC

Horizon Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 93.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,133 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 14,966 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $75,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 194.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 808 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. UBS Group set a $86.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.89.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE:MTH opened at $63.70 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $65.39 and its 200-day moving average is $69.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.03 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.43.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.69 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total value of $272,939.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,844.40. The trade was a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total value of $2,510,401.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,917,154.61. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,622 shares of company stock valued at $3,640,273. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Meritage Homes

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.