US Bancorp DE Sells 5,716 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

US Bancorp DE reduced its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 44.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,062 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 5,716 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company's stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH stock traded up $2.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $190.52. The company had a trading volume of 401,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 413,315. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 1.82. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $194.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.35. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $129.42 and a 52-week high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is 13.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush upgraded Meritage Homes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. 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 note on Wednesday, August 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.