Mackenzie Financial Corp Reduces Stock Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lessened its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 55.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,461 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 59,876 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 0.13% of Meritage Homes worth $8,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 137.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 12,550 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 7,266 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 43.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,740 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 1,138 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at $464,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 7.0% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,632 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 49.3% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 19,463 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 6,431 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total value of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,859 shares in the company, valued at $284,408.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total value of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,859 shares in the company, valued at $284,408.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $150.35 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.23 and a fifty-two week high of $179.68. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.20. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MTH shares. Wedbush downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.67.

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.