Rhumbline Advisers Boosts Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,115 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,838 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.15% of Meritage Homes worth $17,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,773,609 shares of the construction company's stock worth $363,714,000 after acquiring an additional 74,422 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,035 shares of the construction company's stock worth $100,286,000 after purchasing an additional 5,732 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 483,159 shares of the construction company's stock worth $99,081,000 after buying an additional 102,502 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company's stock worth $71,206,000 after buying an additional 148,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 286,105 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $44,009,000 after purchasing an additional 13,983 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. Raymond James cut shares of Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $98.50 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of MTH stock traded down $1.68 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $73.10. 694,290 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 942,739. The stock's 50 day moving average is $79.97 and its 200-day moving average is $89.72. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.88. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.05 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Meritage Homes 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.