First Trust Advisors LP Buys 217,618 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 61.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 571,120 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 217,618 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.79% of Meritage Homes worth $87,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the construction company's stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MTH shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE:MTH traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $68.91. 1,692,679 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 889,956. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.08 and a 200 day moving average of $81.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

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.