Centric Wealth Management Takes Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Centric Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 22,857 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,982,000. Meritage Homes comprises 1.3% of Centric Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 628 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:MTH traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $181.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 374,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,476. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $109.23 and a 1 year high of $183.78.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171. Company 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.