Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,523 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. Archer Investment Corp increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 675 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 3,044.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 912 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on MTH shares. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $74.78 on Thursday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $71.05 and a 52-week high of $106.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $79.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 1.88.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. 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.