Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Bought by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 91.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 212,595 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 101,480 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.30% of Meritage Homes worth $15,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.1% in the 1st quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company's stock worth $101,668,000 after buying an additional 695,355 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $101,695,000. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,910,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 2,199.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 305,605 shares of the construction company's stock worth $47,008,000 after acquiring an additional 292,317 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 205.5% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 418,884 shares of the construction company's stock worth $64,433,000 after acquiring an additional 281,773 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target 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. Finally, 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 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.0%

MTH stock traded up $1.26 on Monday, hitting $65.26. 982,669 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 880,469. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.33. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The stock has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.37. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.06 EPS. Meritage Homes's revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is currently 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.