American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 29.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 300,079 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 125,601 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $46,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $850,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 150.2% during the fourth quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP now owns 9,399 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,446,000 after buying an additional 5,642 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at $469,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 97.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 23,802 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,661,000 after buying an additional 11,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set 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 shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $72.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.44. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.92. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $68.93 and a 52 week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. On average, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 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.