Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Bought by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,400 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 0.60% of Meritage Homes worth $37,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MTH. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 33,536 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,842,000 after purchasing an additional 13,538 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,205,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 140.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,482 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,826,000 after acquiring an additional 6,119 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 1st quarter worth $1,908,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 25,235 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,396,000 after buying an additional 8,225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.8 %

MTH stock traded up $3.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $177.94. 447,911 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 419,247. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $169.96 and its 200-day moving average is $165.09. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $109.23 and a 12 month high of $189.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 1.80.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.