Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Position Reduced by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. lowered its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 168,145 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 77,704 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.23% of Meritage Homes worth $25,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,908 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,447,000 after buying an additional 6,772 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 177.8% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 72,594 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $11,167,000 after buying an additional 46,465 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,416 shares of the construction company's stock worth $22,214,000 after acquiring an additional 4,378 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 139.9% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,078 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,795 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 246,813 shares of the construction company's stock worth $37,965,000 after purchasing an additional 4,831 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MTH traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $67.92. 541,766 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 885,641. The company has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.57. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase 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.