Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Bought by Mizuho Markets Americas LLC

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 10.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,858 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,448 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC owned 0.43% of Meritage Homes worth $32,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at about $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.0 %

Meritage Homes stock traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $179.41. The stock had a trading volume of 408,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 414,672. 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 stock has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 1.82. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $137.70 and a 12 month high of $213.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $193.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. Meritage Homes's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.98 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.22 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MTH shares. 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 research report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Meritage Homes from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Five investment 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $218.17.

Meritage Homes 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.