Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 96.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,999,889 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,925,148 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.14% of Meritage Homes worth $567,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.1% during the first quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $101,668,000 after purchasing an additional 695,355 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 710,281 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,345,000 after purchasing an additional 304,427 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 95.9% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 598,694 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $42,435,000 after purchasing an additional 293,089 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 571,120 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $87,850,000 after purchasing an additional 217,618 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 82.2% during the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 511,100 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,227,000 after purchasing an additional 230,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $665,840. This trade represents a 30.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MTH. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.13.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $78.23 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $69.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.15 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 15.47%.

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.