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

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,079 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 125,601 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.41% of Meritage Homes worth $46,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 6.9% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,961 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 73,469 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,066,000 after buying an additional 24,362 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 70.9% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 76.2% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 171.0% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 57,786 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,850,000 after acquiring an additional 36,466 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $72.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $75.10 and its 200 day moving average is $86.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $68.93 and a 1 year high of $106.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.92.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (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%. On average, research 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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. 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 reduced their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

About Meritage Homes

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.