Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 1,914 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 32.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,862 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,170,062 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $510,374,000 after acquiring an additional 151,946 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 779,549 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $135,797,000 after acquiring an additional 143,440 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 36.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 449,233 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $54,982,000 after buying an additional 118,818 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 101.2% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 124,404 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,216,000 after buying an additional 62,569 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 22.5% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 340,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,694,000 after buying an additional 62,549 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MTH. Seaport Res Ptn cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.67.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 6.7 %

Shares of MTH opened at $165.05 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $179.68. The company has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.58.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

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.