Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,678 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,192 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the 4th 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 period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth about $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $230,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MTH. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. 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. Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $69.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.17. 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 $65.19 and a 1 year high of $106.99.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.