Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases New Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 41,741 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,421,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP increased 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 period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 42.1% during the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 675 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MTH. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH stock opened at $72.18 on Thursday. 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’s fifty day moving average is $77.76 and its 200 day moving average is $88.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.92.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.38%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.