Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Sells 291,428 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 99.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 660 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 291,428 shares during the quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $67.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.69. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $106.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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