Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 56.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,753 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,855 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MTH. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $43,147,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth about $44,029,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth about $36,365,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 26.9% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE MTH opened at $72.37 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.49. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $71.05 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.88.

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 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio 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.