Swedbank AB Sells 17,205 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Swedbank AB cut its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 18.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 75,280 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 17,205 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $4,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 134.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,658 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 22,162 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 51.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,937 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 4,407 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 58.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $75,051,000 after purchasing an additional 391,297 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 111.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,971 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 17,343 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 102.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 319,150 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $22,621,000 after purchasing an additional 161,806 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $93.00 target price (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday. Zelman & Associates cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total value of $79,066.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,147.74. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.9%

MTH stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.59. The stock had a trading volume of 808,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 972,833. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.03 and a 1-year high of $85.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.91.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

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.