1,811 Shares in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Acquired by Keybank National Association OH

Keybank National Association OH purchased a new position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,811 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,773,609 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $363,714,000 after buying an additional 74,422 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,035 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $100,286,000 after purchasing an additional 5,732 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 26.9% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 483,159 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $99,081,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 405,854 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,429,000 after purchasing an additional 3,219 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,206,000 after purchasing an additional 148,898 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 approximately $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $74.99 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $69.26 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.70. The firm has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 1.92.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

About Meritage Homes

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.