Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Purchases 3,731 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 151.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,202 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 3,731 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 182.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,880 shares of the construction company's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 123.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,607 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 16,328 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth $1,201,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company's stock worth $48,349,000 after purchasing an additional 78,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 100.2% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,450 shares of the construction company's stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 4,229 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:MTH traded down $1.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,112,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 891,262. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The firm has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.96.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 11.50%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.06 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is presently 14.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

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.