Phocas Financial Corp. Takes $3.88 Million Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Phocas Financial Corp. bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,937 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $3,883,000. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.05% of Meritage Homes as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 734.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 272,122 shares of the construction company's stock worth $55,804,000 after purchasing an additional 239,511 shares during the period. Long Pond Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at $32,303,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at $25,495,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at $22,887,000. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at $23,106,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH stock traded up $0.71 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $178.15. 87,449 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 412,340. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a PE ratio of 7.94 and a beta of 1.82. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $137.70 and a twelve month high of $213.98. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $193.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.27.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.98 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.28 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is presently 13.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a 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 report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush raised shares of Meritage Homes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes 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.