American Century Companies Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 15.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 449,596 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 82,025 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $72,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 17,318.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 28,451 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,956,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,817 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $665,000 after buying an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MTH. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,136,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total value of $595,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $203.56 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $210.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $188.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.80.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.02 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.99%.

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.