Shelton Capital Management Cuts Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Shelton Capital Management decreased its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,992 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 158 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Meritage Homes by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,821 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 52.6% in the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 290 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 36.9% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 393 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 2,364 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,451 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 99.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on MTH shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 3rd. StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Meritage Homes from $155.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.33.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.2 %

MTH opened at $142.79 on Tuesday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $80.25 and a 12 month high of $152.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $123.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 1.69.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The construction company reported $5.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.88. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.23%. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 19.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.99%.

About Meritage Homes

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 first-time and first move-up buyers in Texas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.