Stifel Financial Corp Sells 2,713 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Stifel Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,389 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,713 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 235.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the purchase, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective 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. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $68.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.08. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.06%.

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.