Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 266,967 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 39,522 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.37% of Meritage Homes worth $41,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,074,741 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $626,777,000 after purchasing an additional 26,889 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 4.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,773,609 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $363,714,000 after buying an additional 74,422 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $101,695,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 405,854 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,429,000 after buying an additional 3,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,206,000 after acquiring an additional 148,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MTH shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $69.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.69. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $65.19 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.28. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

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.