Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Acquired by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,725 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,000 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Meritage Homes worth $23,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 211,043 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $43,279,000 after purchasing an additional 32,810 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,763 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 12,002 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,846,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 95.0% during the fourth quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 6,356 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MTH. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Meritage Homes stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.69. The stock had a trading volume of 26,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,066. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $106.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.50. The firm's fifty day moving average is $68.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is 14.06%.

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.