Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 867,342 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 138,221 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $62,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MTH. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 194.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 366.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,489 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 201.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $834,352.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 124,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,540,772.35. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total value of $272,939.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,844.40. This represents a 7.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MTH. Citigroup began coverage on Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group set a $95.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.33.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $71.32 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.46.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 7.73%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.72 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.22%.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.