Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH Shares Sold by Geode Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management trimmed its Meritage Homes stake by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 44,907 shares and leaving it with 1,668,500 shares valued at about $109.8 million.
• Meritage Homes recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.86 per share, missing analyst estimates, while revenue of $1.12 billion also fell short of expectations and declined 17.5% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, equivalent to a 2.8% annualized yield, even as analysts currently maintain an overall Hold consensus on the stock.

Geode Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,668,500 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 44,907 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.37% of Meritage Homes worth $109,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 1.5% in 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 in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,559 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 808 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Meritage Homes by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 60,040 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,949,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. 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. Wall Street Zen raised Meritage Homes from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.89.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MTH stock opened at $68.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Meritage Homes Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.03 and a twelve month high of $84.74. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.39. The business's 50 day moving average is $64.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.76.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at $474,147.74. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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