Bank of Montreal Can Purchases 6,772 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 74.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,908 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,772 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,349,000 after acquiring an additional 78,087 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 14,589 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,244,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,699 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $7,337,000 after buying an additional 4,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,218,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on 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. UBS Group reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of NYSE MTH traded up $3.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.06. The company had a trading volume of 757,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,841. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.66. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.