Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Purchases 3,082 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 47.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,562 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 3,082 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MTH shares. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 3.0 %

MTH stock opened at $180.60 on Wednesday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $183.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 1.75. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.37.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,813.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at $798,813.08. 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 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.