LSV Asset Management Decreases Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

LSV Asset Management lessened its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 209,400 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,243 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.57% of Meritage Homes worth $36,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 39,500 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,834,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 2,695 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,948 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 108,337 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,541,000 after purchasing an additional 19,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 10,900 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total value of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 3.1 %

MTH opened at $171.50 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $161.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.42. The company has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 1.75. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $109.23 and a 1 year high of $183.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 13.99%.

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.