Groupama Asset Managment Buys Shares of 500,000 Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 500,000 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,910,000. Groupama Asset Managment owned 0.69% of Meritage Homes as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Meritage Homes by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,293 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake 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 during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,409 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,724,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,821 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated 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. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of MTH opened at $70.87 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $74.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.92. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $68.71 and a 52 week high of $106.99. 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 (NYSE:MTH) last posted 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 return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other 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 owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.