4D Advisors LLC Invests $3.08 Million in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

4D Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 20,000 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,076,000. Meritage Homes comprises approximately 2.1% of 4D Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.69.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE:MTH opened at $66.93 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $69.48 and a 200-day moving average of $80.34. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.69.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.06%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company 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.