Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 292,317 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 2,199.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 305,605 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 292,317 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.42% of Meritage Homes worth $47,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 65.7% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,259 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,539,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter worth about $6,973,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 264.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,259 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after buying an additional 8,166 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,338,000. Finally, Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the third quarter worth about $3,883,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $77.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 1.92. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $69.26 and a 52-week high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.