Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 19,266 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Fisher Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 84.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,430 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 19,266 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth about $4,731,000. Lodge Hill Capital LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth about $21,729,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 13.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 402,664 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,165,000 after purchasing an additional 46,554 shares during the period. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $1,880,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 84.2% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 107,394 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,779,000 after purchasing an additional 49,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group set a $86.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.89.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH opened at $68.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $64.40 and its 200-day moving average is $68.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.03 and a 1-year high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,147.74. This represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.