Swedbank AB Has $23.76 Million Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Swedbank AB reduced its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 115,869 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 19,897 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.32% of Meritage Homes worth $23,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at $64,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 16.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wolfe Research raised Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.83.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $203.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.80. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $109.23 and a 1 year high of $213.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $195.33 and a 200-day moving average of $180.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $512,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,136,850. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,793.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meritage Homes Company 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.