5,160 Shares in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Acquired by XTX Topco Ltd

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,160 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake 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. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,758 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,821 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $62.81 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.78. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS 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%. Analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. 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 2.74%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MTH. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.