MML Investors Services LLC Lowers Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

MML Investors Services LLC decreased its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH – Get Rating) by 27.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,172 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,178 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Texas Permanent School Fund raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 0.5% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 26,595 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,928,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Eqis Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 3.3% in the second quarter. Eqis Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,907 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 14.1% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,530 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.6% during the third quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 3,590 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Credit Suisse AG increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.6% during the third quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 32,411 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,277,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price target on Meritage Homes from $104.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 6th. TheStreet raised Meritage Homes from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Meritage Homes from $87.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on Meritage Homes from $106.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, Director Raymond Oppel sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.22, for a total transaction of $551,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,102,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $594,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 44,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,888,510. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Raymond Oppel sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.22, for a total transaction of $551,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,102,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,683 shares of company stock valued at $1,290,994. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE:MTH opened at $106.49 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $62.51 and a one year high of $117.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $105.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.81.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The construction company reported $7.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.06. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 27.92%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 32.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 12.97 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th.

Meritage Homes Profile

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Meritage Homes Corp. engages in the design and construction of single family attached and detached homes. It operates through the Homebuilding and Financial Services segments. The Homebuilding segment acquires and develops lands, constructs homes, markets and sells those homes, and provides warranty and customer services.