Swiss National Bank Has $14.54 Million Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 0.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 70,900 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $14,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 734.4% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 272,122 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,804,000 after purchasing an additional 239,511 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth about $25,495,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth about $22,887,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth about $23,106,000. Finally, Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 216.7% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 190,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,337,000 after acquiring an additional 130,000 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of MTH stock opened at $184.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $137.70 and a fifty-two week high of $213.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.26. The company has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 1.82.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wedbush upgraded Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.17.

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.