Bank of New York Mellon Corp Grows Stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 75.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 710,281 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 304,427 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.99% of Meritage Homes worth $50,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 136.0% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,901 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,248 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 151.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,202 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 182.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,880 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.4% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 20,623 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 10,012 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.8% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,266 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 2.2%

Meritage Homes stock opened at $73.71 on Friday. Meritage Homes Corporation has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $66.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.37.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 14.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.06 earnings per share. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MTH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Bank of America started coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.72.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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