Yousif Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,420 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 318 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was 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 approximately $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 related 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 owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $169.48 on Monday. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.23 and a fifty-two week high of $179.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.42.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Meritage Homes Company 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.