Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Acquires 3,082 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 47.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,562 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,082 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $180.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.18 and a 200-day moving average of $156.37. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $183.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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 $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171. 2.00% of the stock is owned by 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.