Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Acquired by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,767 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,207 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.33% of Meritage Homes worth $24,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MTH. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 3.8 %

MTH traded up $6.76 on Friday, hitting $184.44. 388,079 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 481,199. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $137.70 and a twelve month high of $213.98. The company has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $192.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.26.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.98 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Meritage Homes from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wedbush raised shares of Meritage Homes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. 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 data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes 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.