Royce & Associates LP Decreases Stake in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP cut its Meritage Homes stake by 68.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 86,397 shares and leaving it with 39,827 shares worth about $2.6 million.
• Meritage Homes reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.86 versus estimates of $0.98 and revenue of $1.12 billion versus expectations of $1.55 billion; revenue was also down 17.5% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, yielding about 2.9% annually, while analysts currently have a Hold consensus rating and an average price target of $79.89.

Royce & Associates LP lowered its position in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 68.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,827 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 86,397 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.06% of Meritage Homes worth $2,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 10,627 shares of the construction company's stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,559 shares of the construction company's stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 808 shares of the construction company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 60,040 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,949,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MTH shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Meritage Homes from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Zacks Research cut Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.89.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE MTH opened at $65.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.43. Meritage Homes Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.03 and a fifty-two week high of $84.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.73. 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 (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released 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). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The firm's revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 7,634 shares in the company, 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 through the SEC website. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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