Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 8,225 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 48.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,235 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,225 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned 0.07% of Meritage Homes worth $4,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 339.8% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 108.3% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,337 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $148.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 2.0 %

MTH traded down $3.10 on Tuesday, hitting $152.06. The company had a trading volume of 243,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 406,317. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $179.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 1.76.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.20. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares of the company's stock, valued at $132,618.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.