First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Buys 539 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 27.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,518 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $439,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 628 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.3 %

MTH stock opened at $177.04 on Monday. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $183.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.12.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. On average, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.