Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Purchased by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,576 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 1.5 %

MTH stock opened at $67.92 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The company has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.69. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.05.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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