Mitchell Capital Management Co. Trims Stock Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Mitchell Capital Management Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,091 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,502 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Capital Management Co.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in 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. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 545.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. Archer Investment Corp increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 42.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 3,044.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 912 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Raymond James lowered shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. 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, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE MTH opened at $72.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.88. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $71.05 and a one year high of $106.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.49.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend 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.