QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 4,229 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 100.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,450 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,229 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,349,000 after buying an additional 78,087 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 177.3% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 33,287 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,359,000 after acquiring an additional 21,285 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 4.9% in 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 last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the first quarter worth $1,171,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on 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 target price on Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $63.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $106.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $65.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.35. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.37.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released 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). The company 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 14.28% and a net margin of 11.50%. Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.06 EPS. Research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is currently 14.06%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes 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, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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