Graham Capital Management L.P. Has $573,000 Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Graham Capital Management L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 56.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,724 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,854 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,293 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,758 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $67.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 1.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $68.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.45. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.06%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.