Yousif Capital Management LLC Buys 318 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,420 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Meritage Homes worth $3,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying 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 worth $38,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 628 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of MTH opened at $169.48 on Monday. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $179.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.42.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 19.95 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction 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 $284,408.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,813.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.