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

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

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,531,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 97.4% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 23,802 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,661,000 after buying an additional 11,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $850,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $96.13.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH traded down $4.60 during trading on Thursday, hitting $70.18. 1,348,681 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 960,729. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 1.37. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $67.29 and a 200-day moving average of $70.56.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 14.28%. The company's revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.06%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.