Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $1.38 Million Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 143.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 5,300 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 18.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 986 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 8.1% in 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 period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,409 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,724,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $70.48 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.96. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $68.93 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.39 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 (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Company 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.