Squarepoint Ops LLC Takes Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 71,611 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $11,015,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 0.10% of Meritage Homes at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,074,741 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $626,777,000 after purchasing an additional 26,889 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $101,695,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 61.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 571,120 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $87,850,000 after purchasing an additional 217,618 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,910,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 475,678 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $73,169,000 after purchasing an additional 21,123 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.4%

Meritage Homes stock opened at $64.30 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $67.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.61.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.06 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is 14.06%.

Meritage Homes Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

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