Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 37,750 Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 37,750 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $5,807,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.05% of Meritage Homes as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 156.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 20,607 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,170,000 after acquiring an additional 12,583 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $229,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $130,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $9,537,000. Finally, Woodson Capital Management LP boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP now owns 38,300 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,300 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target 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, Wall Street Zen lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $63.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 920,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 887,719. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $67.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.50.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio 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.