Boothbay Fund Management LLC Acquires 39,003 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 236.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,523 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 39,003 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC owned 0.08% of Meritage Homes worth $8,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 78,087 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 14,589 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,699 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $7,337,000 after acquiring an additional 4,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 84.6% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MTH shares. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of MTH traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $67.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 192,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 970,950. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.56. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released 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). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.06 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.