Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Shares Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 94.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,100 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,758 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,439 shares of the construction company's stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the construction company's stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MTH. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $96.13.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock traded up $0.94 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $70.39. 992,894 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 892,332. The firm has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.37. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $67.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.79. 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 released its 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). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 14.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.06 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.