SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases New Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,942 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $1,732,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 79,051 shares of the construction company's stock worth $11,246,000 after acquiring an additional 17,752 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 388.4% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 42,000 shares of the construction company's stock worth $5,140,000 after acquiring an additional 33,400 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 449,233 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $54,982,000 after buying an additional 118,818 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 52,029 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,368,000 after buying an additional 14,362 shares during the period. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at about $18,336,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $180.00.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on 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 owns 869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.6 %

MTH traded up $2.83 on Friday, hitting $175.46. The company had a trading volume of 362,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,633. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.71. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $179.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

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.