Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 300 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $144,000. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth about $229,000. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.7 %

Meritage Homes stock opened at $169.48 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.77. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $179.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.56 and a 200-day moving average of $153.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 19.95 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.