Lisanti Capital Growth LLC Buys New Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 26,220 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,568,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 628 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH traded down $1.71 during trading on Monday, reaching $175.33. 828,335 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 408,285. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.42. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $183.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 1.75.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MTH. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

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.