Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,074,741 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,889 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Meritage Homes worth $626,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 3,044.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 912 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $187,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MTH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 3.2 %

MTH stock opened at $70.36 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.92. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $68.93 and a one year high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.14.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS 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 anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now 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 sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.