Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,829 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 194 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MTH. Assetmark Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 60.6% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,462 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Meritage Homes by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 986 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth $217,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 12,504 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,564,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $70.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 1.92. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $68.93 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.