Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 20,920 Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 20,920 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $3,218,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,293 shares of the construction company's stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 3,481 shares of the construction company's stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2,199.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 305,605 shares of the construction company's stock worth $47,008,000 after acquiring an additional 292,317 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $279,000. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 73,755 shares of the construction company's stock worth $11,345,000 after acquiring an additional 6,573 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Meritage Homes from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $98.50 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.25.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, 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 three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of MTH traded down $1.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $70.37. The stock had a trading volume of 2,304,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 824,169. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.92. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $75.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.06. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $68.93 and a 12-month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share 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%. Equities 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.