KBC Group NV Increases Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 94.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,266 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,589 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,074,741 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $626,777,000 after purchasing an additional 26,889 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 94.1% during the 1st quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $101,668,000 after acquiring an additional 695,355 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth about $101,695,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 571,120 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $87,850,000 after purchasing an additional 217,618 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 82.2% during the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 511,100 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,227,000 after purchasing an additional 230,600 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 41,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $70.63 on Monday. Meritage Homes Corporation has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.04.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 11.50%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.06 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.06%.

Meritage Homes Company 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.