Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Holdings Decreased by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments lowered its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 52.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,888 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,406 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,170,062 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $510,374,000 after acquiring an additional 151,946 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 779,549 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $135,797,000 after acquiring an additional 143,440 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 36.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 449,233 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $54,982,000 after purchasing an additional 118,818 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 101.2% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 124,404 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,216,000 after purchasing an additional 62,569 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 340,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,694,000 after purchasing an additional 62,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $177.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $109.23 and a 12 month high of $183.25. The company has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 1.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.12.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

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.