Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Bought by Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,353 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,588 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of Meritage Homes worth $10,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth about $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the construction company's stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MTH shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.60. The stock had a trading volume of 214,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 887,317. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.37. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The firm has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 1.69.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 issued a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

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.