JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $48.35 Million Stock Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 33.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 314,323 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 78,087 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.43% of Meritage Homes worth $48,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its position 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position 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. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at $230,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of MTH opened at $69.08 on Friday. 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 $65.19 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.75 and a 200-day moving average of $85.17.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

About Meritage Homes

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.