Norges Bank Purchases New Stake in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new stake in Meritage Homes, buying 958,249 shares worth about $63.1 million and ending the quarter with roughly 1.36% ownership.
• Institutional interest remains strong, with several hedge funds and asset managers increasing positions; overall, 98.44% of Meritage Homes stock is held by institutions and hedge funds.
• Meritage Homes reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, missing EPS and revenue estimates, while analysts currently view the stock as a Hold with an average price target of $79.89.

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 958,249 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $63,053,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.36% of Meritage Homes at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MTH. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,987,850 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $143,980,000 after acquiring an additional 609,866 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised 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 acquiring an additional 527,265 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 391,297 shares in the last quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $21,729,000. Finally, Sophron Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $17,613,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MTH. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Zacks Research lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group set a $86.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.89.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $68.30 on Friday. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.03 and a 1-year high of $84.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The business's fifty day moving average price is $64.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.39.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.08%. Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $79,066.03. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474,147.74. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MTH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report).

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.