1,315 Shares in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Acquired by Palouse Capital Management Inc.

Palouse Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,315 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 339.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE:MTH traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $150.35. The company had a trading volume of 285,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,232. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $179.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $159.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.44. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. As a group, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.