Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 13.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 867,342 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 138,221 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.23% of Meritage Homes worth $62,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 194.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 366.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,489 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 11.4% during the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 201.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Evercore set a $77.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.33.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $71.32 on Thursday. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $84.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.48.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 7.73%.Meritage Homes’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total transaction of $2,510,401.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 260,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,917,154.61. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $834,352.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 124,961 shares in the company, valued at $9,540,772.35. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.