AXS Investments LLC Grows Stock Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

AXS Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 49.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,610 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the quarter. AXS Investments LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MTH. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.1% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 75,799 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,277,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 87.2% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 6,480 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth approximately $2,692,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,468 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth approximately $1,309,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MTH stock opened at $174.62 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.23 and a fifty-two week high of $189.96. The stock has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 1.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.00% 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.