Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 92.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,537 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 5,056 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 166.5% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 77.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 329.9% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 246.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $665,840. This trade represents a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MTH. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $87.71.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.48. The stock had a trading volume of 135,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 983,442. The company has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.86 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $69.58 and a 200 day moving average of $69.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1 year low of $59.27 and a 1 year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 10.27%. Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is 15.47%.

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.