State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $4.26 Million Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 96.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,094 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 29,487 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned approximately 0.08% of Meritage Homes worth $4,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.2% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,450 shares of the construction company's stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 4,229 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth about $1,201,000. Palouse Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 239.3% during the first quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,341 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 82.2% in the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 511,100 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $36,227,000 after acquiring an additional 230,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 329.9% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH traded up $0.65 on Tuesday, hitting $67.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 724,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,662. The company has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.37. Meritage Homes Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.28.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.06 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In related news, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MTH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective 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. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. 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 target for the company. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.