Nuveen Asset Management LLC Sells 19,997 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 98,431 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 19,997 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.14% of Meritage Homes worth $15,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,349,000 after buying an additional 78,087 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 235.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 14,589 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,244,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,699 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $7,337,000 after buying an additional 4,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 84.6% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, hitting $63.93. The company had a trading volume of 366,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 883,512. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $67.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.50. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Meritage Homes's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.06 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Company 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.