Strs Ohio Raises Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 94.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,200 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 10,300 shares during the period. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.06% of Meritage Homes worth $3,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 339.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 108.3% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,337 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MTH shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Wedbush downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $155.00 to $148.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $150.09 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $179.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $159.14 and a 200-day moving average of $151.23.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.18 by $0.20. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

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.