Vision Capital Corp Takes $13.89 Million Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Vision Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 67,750 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,893,000. Meritage Homes accounts for approximately 2.2% of Vision Capital Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Vision Capital Corp owned about 0.19% of Meritage Homes at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 734.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 272,122 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,804,000 after acquiring an additional 239,511 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 1st quarter worth $25,495,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at $22,887,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at $23,106,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 26.9% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 483,159 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $99,081,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:MTH opened at $187.51 on Monday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $137.70 and a 1 year high of $213.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $192.28 and a 200-day moving average of $184.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 1.82.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 13.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MTH. Wolfe Research raised Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush raised Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.17.

Meritage Homes 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.