Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lessened its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,758 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,819 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $4,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,293 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 2.2% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,409 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,821 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,250 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.2 %

MTH opened at $72.74 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $75.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.44. 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 stock has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.92. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $68.93 and a 12 month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. As a group, research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MTH. 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.25.

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.