Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 177.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,594 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 46,465 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Meritage Homes worth $11,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in 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. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,821 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,250 shares of the construction company's stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 acquisition, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.00. 331,965 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 876,033. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $71.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.69. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MTH. UBS Group reduced 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. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.25.

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.