South Dakota Investment Council Has $1.43 Million Stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

South Dakota Investment Council raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 95.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,128 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 9,814 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 26,889 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $101,668,000 after acquiring an additional 695,355 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 710,281 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $50,345,000 after acquiring an additional 304,427 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,695,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 95.9% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 598,694 shares of the construction company's stock worth $42,435,000 after acquiring an additional 293,089 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, 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 target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $96.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 8.2%

MTH stock traded up $5.73 on Tuesday, hitting $75.68. 1,498,323 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 888,601. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. The stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.37.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 14.28%. The company 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 for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.06%.

Meritage Homes 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.