Palouse Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 239.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,341 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MTH. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 77.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 329.9% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on MTH shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH opened at $64.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.59. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.06 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In related news, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.