Bamco Inc. NY Takes $112.50 Million Position in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new 1.34 million-share stake in Meritage Homes, valued at approximately $112.5 million and representing about 2.06% of the homebuilder.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 98.44%, with Balyasny Asset Management and Goldman Sachs among firms that significantly increased their positions.
• Meritage Homes beat quarterly earnings expectations with $1.42 in EPS versus $1.30 forecast, but revenue fell 14.1% year over year; analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $79.25 price target.

Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,341,653 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $112,498,000. Bamco Inc. NY owned about 2.06% of Meritage Homes as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Meritage Homes by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,901,851 shares of the construction company's stock worth $190,943,000 after buying an additional 16,338 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 58.9% in 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 buying an additional 527,265 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 391,297 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,053,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 855,679 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $56,304,000 after buying an additional 61,342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $72.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.36. 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 12 month low of $58.03 and a 12 month high of $85.38. The stock's 50 day moving average is $75.09 and its 200-day moving average is $70.38.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.43 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 6.11%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.04 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MTH. Weiss Ratings raised Meritage Homes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $88.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zelman & Associates cut shares of Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.25.

Meritage Homes 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source