Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $3.22 Million in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 20,920 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,218,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 675 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 3,044.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % 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 worth $122,547. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $71.92 on Wednesday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $69.26 and a 1 year high of $106.99. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $79.56 and a 200 day moving average of $89.23. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

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.