Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $12.11 Million Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,743 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 5,857 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Meritage Homes worth $12,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,293 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,758 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.7%

MTH stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.37. The stock had a trading volume of 153,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 875,655. The firm has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 1.50. The company's 50-day moving average price is $68.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.75. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 owns 5,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 in the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.