Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 100.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,325 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 15,218 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 77.7% in 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 lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 329.9% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 246.4% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the firm's 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. 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 is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH traded down $1.14 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $72.63. 911,401 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 947,792. Meritage Homes Corporation has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $106.99. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.96 and a 200-day moving average of $71.84.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.06 EPS. The business's revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America started coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.