Geode Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Geode Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,668,500 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 44,907 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $109,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Capital World Investors grew its position in Meritage Homes by 44.3% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,987,850 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $143,980,000 after acquiring an additional 609,866 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in 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 valued at $95,299,000 after acquiring an additional 527,265 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $75,051,000 after acquiring an additional 391,297 shares during the period. Lodge Hill Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at about $21,729,000. Finally, Sophron Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at about $17,613,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $68.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.76. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.03 and a 52-week high of $84.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.39. 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 (NYSE:MTH) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MTH shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $79,066.03. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,147.74. This represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company 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.