Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Bought by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 84.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,006 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 235.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 38.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target 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. Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of MTH stock opened at $65.13 on Monday. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.99. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Company 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.