Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 266,967 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 39,522 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $41,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% in the fourth 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. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 38.9% during the 4th 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. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter worth about $230,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $69.08 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $65.19 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $73.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.69.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.