Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 77.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,485 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,887 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.05% of Meritage Homes worth $2,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 94.1% in the 1st quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $101,668,000 after purchasing an additional 695,355 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,695,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,910,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 2,199.9% in the 4th 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 stake in Meritage Homes by 205.5% in 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 during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $66.97 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.22 and a 200-day moving average of $72.40. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $106.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 1.37.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.06 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.

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