Victory Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 2,199.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 305,605 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 292,317 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $47,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MTH. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,773,609 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $363,714,000 after buying an additional 74,422 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,035 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $100,286,000 after acquiring an additional 5,732 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 26.9% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 483,159 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $99,081,000 after acquiring an additional 102,502 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 405,854 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,429,000 after acquiring an additional 3,219 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,206,000 after purchasing an additional 148,898 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $77.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 1.92. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $69.26 and a 1-year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

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.