Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Has $795,000 Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH – Get Rating) by 61.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,628 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 3,284 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 277.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 286,805 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $20,154,000 after buying an additional 210,811 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $12,735,000. Appian Way Asset Management LP boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 26.3% during the third quarter. Appian Way Asset Management LP now owns 253,219 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $17,794,000 after purchasing an additional 52,719 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,052,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,309,099 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $103,720,000 after buying an additional 43,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MTH. StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 16th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Meritage Homes from $104.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $106.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.14.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of MTH stock opened at $121.38 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $119.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.79. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12-month low of $62.51 and a 12-month high of $130.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 1.58.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The construction company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $1.03. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 23.99% and a net margin of 14.44%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.79 EPS. Meritage Homes’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 15.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 4.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Raymond Oppel sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.22, for a total transaction of $551,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,102,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Raymond Oppel sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.22, for a total value of $551,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,102,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.52, for a total transaction of $185,280.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,413.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,800 shares of company stock valued at $2,071,177 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Meritage Homes Corp. engages in the design and construction of single family attached and detached homes. It operates through the Homebuilding and Financial Services segments. The Homebuilding segment acquires and develops lands, constructs homes, markets and sells those homes, and provides warranty and customer services.