American International Group Inc. Trims Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

American International Group Inc. lowered its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,845 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the period. American International Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Meritage Homes worth $3,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 157.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MTH. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:MTH opened at $160.22 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $169.93 and a 200 day moving average of $165.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $109.23 and a 52 week high of $189.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.78.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.99%.

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.