Mach 1 Financial Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Mach 1 Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,581 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 628 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH stock opened at $166.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $109.23 and a 1 year high of $179.68. The company has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $160.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.19.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at $798,813.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 in the last ninety days. 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.