US Bancorp DE Sells 1,281 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

US Bancorp DE lowered its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 18.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,781 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,281 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $889,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 264.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,259 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after acquiring an additional 8,166 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 9.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 244,776 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,196,000 after purchasing an additional 21,092 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 60.6% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,462 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 10.1% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,867 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $77.68 on Monday. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $69.26 and a 52-week high of $106.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 1.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.85.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

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.