First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 217,618 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 61.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 571,120 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 217,618 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $87,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,293 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,758 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of MTH stock opened at $64.71 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 1.69. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $106.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group reduced 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. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

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.