Empowered Funds LLC Takes Position in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 26,316 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,207,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Meritage Homes by 0.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.9% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at $112,498,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $75,051,000 after buying an additional 391,297 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $63,053,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MTH stock opened at $67.38 on Thursday. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.03 and a 12 month high of $85.38. The company has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $74.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.11.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 7.13%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Meritage Homes’s quarterly revenue was down 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.04 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 40.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Meritage Homes from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Zacks Research raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, July 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.25.

Meritage Homes Company 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.