First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 539 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 27.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,518 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 39,500 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,834,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 2,695 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 25.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,948 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 108,337 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,541,000 after acquiring an additional 19,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 10,900 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the period. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total value of $35,340.69. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,408.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 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 $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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $177.04 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $161.32 and a 200 day moving average of $155.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $183.25.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.99%.

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.