Twinbeech Capital LP Buys Shares of 17,031 Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 17,031 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $2,620,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $101,695,000. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $76,910,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 2,199.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 305,605 shares of the construction company's stock worth $47,008,000 after buying an additional 292,317 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 205.5% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 418,884 shares of the construction company's stock worth $64,433,000 after buying an additional 281,773 shares during the period. Finally, GRS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 225.5% during the fourth quarter. GRS Advisors LLC now owns 326,620 shares of the construction company's stock worth $50,241,000 after buying an additional 226,277 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of MTH stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $64.23. The company had a trading volume of 536,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,944. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 1.50. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $67.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.39.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during 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%. Meritage Homes's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.06%.

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.