Congress Asset Management Co. Takes Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 12,008 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,462,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of MTH opened at $183.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.80. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $126.46 and a one year high of $213.98. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.93.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research raised Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.17.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.