Mackenzie Financial Corp Reduces Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Mackenzie Financial Corp decreased its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 55.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,461 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 59,876 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $8,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 1,300.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 717,578 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $102,090,000 after buying an additional 666,349 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth $36,473,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 252.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 488,657 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,054,000 after purchasing an additional 350,204 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 6,472.4% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 328,161 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $38,316,000 after purchasing an additional 323,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 327.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 351,259 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,013,000 after purchasing an additional 269,054 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH opened at $150.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 1.77. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.23 and a fifty-two week high of $179.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $159.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Wedbush downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company 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.