Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Acquired by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 13,817.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,428 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,389 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 65.7% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,259 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,539,000 after acquiring an additional 6,843 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter worth about $6,973,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 264.0% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,259 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after acquiring an additional 8,166 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 14,589 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH opened at $74.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.70. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.26 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Meritage Homes 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.