Phocas Financial Corp. Sells 15,314 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Phocas Financial Corp. cut its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 80.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,623 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 15,314 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,773,609 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $363,714,000 after buying an additional 74,422 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,035 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $100,286,000 after acquiring an additional 5,732 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 483,159 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $99,081,000 after acquiring an additional 102,502 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 405,854 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,429,000 after purchasing an additional 3,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,206,000 after purchasing an additional 148,898 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $76.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.83. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $71.05 and a one year high of $106.99. 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 (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 a total of 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.