Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Decreases Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,455 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 382 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 3,044.8% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 912 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MTH. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $71.00 on Wednesday. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $68.71 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.92.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, 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 valued at $122,547 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.