Man Group plc Acquires 35,918 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Man Group plc boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 154.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,236 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,918 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned 0.08% of Meritage Homes worth $9,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,439 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,144,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 205.5% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 418,884 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $64,433,000 after buying an additional 281,773 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $5,807,000. GRS Advisors LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 225.5% in the fourth quarter. GRS Advisors LLC now owns 326,620 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $50,241,000 after acquiring an additional 226,277 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 49.6% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 2,452 shares of the construction company's stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH opened at $68.93 on Monday. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.50. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $68.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.15. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $106.99.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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