Amundi Raises Stock Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Amundi lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 188.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,281 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,598 shares during the period. Amundi's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth about $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 3,044.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 912 shares of the construction company's stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value 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 represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on 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. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.5 %

MTH traded up $0.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $71.50. 685,555 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 820,467. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 1.92. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $75.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.36. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $68.93 and a 12-month 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

Meritage Homes Company 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.