Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH Stake Lessened by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 95.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,393 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 121,366 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,901,851 shares of the construction company's stock worth $190,943,000 after purchasing an additional 16,338 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 527,265 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $75,051,000 after purchasing an additional 391,297 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth $63,053,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 855,679 shares of the construction company's stock worth $56,304,000 after buying an additional 61,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meritage Homes this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citizens JMP raised its Q4 2026 EPS estimate to $1.62 from $1.30 and its Q4 2027 forecast to $1.82 from $1.51. The firm also lifted its FY2027 estimate to $5.50 from $5.28, suggesting improved earnings potential beyond the near term.
• Positive Sentiment: Meritage Homes recently exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.42 per share versus the $1.30 consensus estimate. The earnings beat may have helped support investor sentiment, despite weaker revenue.
• Neutral Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods issued estimates of $1.16 EPS for Q3 2026, $5.95 for FY2027 and $6.98 for FY2028. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Estimates Meritage Homes Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts’ forecasts remain above the current full-year consensus in some cases, but the wide range of estimates signals uncertainty surrounding the housing market and Meritage’s earnings outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Citizens JMP lowered its FY2026 EPS estimate to $4.82 from $4.86 and trimmed estimates for Q1, Q2 and Q3 2027. Wolfe Research cut its Q3 2026 forecast to $1.14 from $1.40 and FY2027 EPS to $6.04 from $6.82.
• Negative Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced its FY2027 estimate to $5.95 from $6.51 and FY2028 estimate to $6.98 from $7.70. These downward revisions point to continued concerns about demand, affordability and profitability.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $474,147.74. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH opened at $74.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.40. Meritage Homes Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.03 and a fifty-two week high of $85.38.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 6.11%.The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid 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 yield of 2.6%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $93.00 target price (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Zelman & Associates cut shares of Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.25.

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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