Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,074,741 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 26,889 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 5.63% of Meritage Homes worth $626,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 56.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 10,265 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 3,687 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $687,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,154,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,699 shares of the construction company's stock worth $7,337,000 after buying an additional 4,397 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $850,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH traded up $2.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $69.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,927,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,850. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $63.11 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $73.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.28.

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Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is 13.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MTH. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.25.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.