Allianz Asset Management GmbH Cuts Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH cut its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,146 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 34,760 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned 0.29% of Meritage Homes worth $32,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Meritage Homes by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 14,589 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $92,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 241.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,614 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $556,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 13,207 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MTH. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,531 shares of company stock valued at $111,355. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $73.84 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.04. 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 fifty-two week low of $71.05 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. 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.