Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,619 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 339.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Meritage Homes by 108.3% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,337 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MTH. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $155.00 to $148.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were 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 approximately $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MTH opened at $150.35 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $179.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $159.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.44. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of 7.55 and a beta 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 (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. Research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

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

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.