Fox Run Management L.L.C. Purchases New Shares in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,464 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 3.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 12,504 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,961 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,222,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,804,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,035 shares of the construction company's stock worth $100,286,000 after acquiring an additional 5,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 49.6% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 73,469 shares of the construction company's stock worth $15,066,000 after acquiring an additional 24,362 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.25.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Meritage Homes stock traded down $2.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.36. 498,170 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 861,870. The firm's fifty day moving average is $74.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.27. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.92. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $68.93 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. 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 (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

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.