Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Purchased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 16.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 676 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 157.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 628 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on MTH shares. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. StockNews.com upgraded 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 research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $160.22 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.67. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $189.96. The company has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. 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.