Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Bought by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 156.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,607 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,583 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,349,000 after purchasing an additional 78,087 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company's stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Meritage Homes by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 14,589 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,244,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,699 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $7,337,000 after buying an additional 4,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 84.6% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $63.12. The stock had a trading volume of 944,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 889,380. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is currently 14.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut 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 assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.72.

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.