Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Position Increased by Amundi

Amundi increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 188.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,281 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,598 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MTH. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth $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 worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 3,044.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 912 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $70.48 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 1.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $76.00 and its 200-day moving average is $87.88. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $68.93 and a 52-week 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.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.