Prudential Financial Inc. Has $13.68 Million Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,948 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,354 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.12% of Meritage Homes worth $13,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 3,044.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 912 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at approximately $230,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MTH. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $72.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $75.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $68.93 and a twelve month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the company’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 value 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 represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes 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.