Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by Centric Wealth Management

Centric Wealth Management cut its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 46.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,664 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 10,307 shares during the quarter. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 70.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Meritage Homes by 171.0% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 57,786 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,850,000 after acquiring an additional 36,466 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 75.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,206,000 after acquiring an additional 148,898 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $334,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 5,929 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $70.87 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.95. The stock has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $68.71 and a 12-month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share 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%. On average, 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 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.