LGT Group Foundation Has $2.99 Million Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

LGT Group Foundation increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,432 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 906 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its position in Meritage Homes by 42.1% during the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 675 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James cut shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, 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 have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:MTH opened at $70.78 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $79.68 and its 200-day moving average is $89.35. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $70.28 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The firm has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 1.88.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. 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 2.43%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.