The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 2,061 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,847 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,061 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $9,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,293 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,758 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $68.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.60. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In related news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 approximately $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 in the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.