661,127 Shares in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 661,127 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,695,000. Norges Bank owned 0.91% of Meritage Homes at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,349,000 after buying an additional 78,087 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,597.6% during the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 84,610 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,015,000 after purchasing an additional 79,626 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,074,741 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $626,777,000 after purchasing an additional 26,889 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 56.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 10,265 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 3,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $687,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $71.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $68.71 and a 52-week high of $106.99. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $74.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.92.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One equities research 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.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

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.