Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 32,357 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon trimmed its Meritage Homes stake by 3.8% in the first quarter, selling 32,357 shares and leaving it with 823,322 shares valued at about $50.9 million.
• Meritage Homes reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.86 versus the $0.98 consensus and revenue of $1.12 billion, down 17.5% year over year.
• The company recently paid a $0.48 quarterly dividend and has received mixed analyst views, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $80.22.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 823,322 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 32,357 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.23% of Meritage Homes worth $50,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,901,851 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $190,943,000 after buying an additional 16,338 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 58.9% in the 2nd 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. lifted 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 worth $75,051,000 after acquiring an additional 391,297 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,053,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 49.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 792,731 shares of the construction company's stock worth $52,162,000 after acquiring an additional 262,928 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE:MTH opened at $71.66 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $72.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.40. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.03 and a 52 week high of $85.38. The stock has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is 35.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $93.00 target price (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $80.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total value of $79,066.03. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at $474,147.74. This represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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