Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lessened its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,224 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,100 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $4,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at about $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 3,044.8% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now 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 this link. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $70.36 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.27. The company has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.92. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $68.93 and a 1-year high of $106.99.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.