Freestone Grove Partners LP Purchases New Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 111,479 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,348,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 10,627 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.0% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,223 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,916 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 7,868 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MTH shares. Zacks Research raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Zelman & Associates lowered shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE MTH opened at $70.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.03 and a 1-year high of $85.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 1.36.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 6.11%.The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.17%.

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.