Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 37,750 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $5,807,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.05% of Meritage Homes at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,349,000 after buying an additional 78,087 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 235.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 14,589 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,699 shares of the construction company's stock worth $7,337,000 after purchasing an additional 4,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 84.6% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the construction company's stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MTH. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of 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 assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.72.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the firm's 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 directly owns 5,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:MTH traded up $1.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $68.93. The stock had a trading volume of 644,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 881,756. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $68.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.50. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.06 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.06%.

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.