State of Alaska Department of Revenue Raises Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 96.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,094 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 29,487 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned about 0.08% of Meritage Homes worth $4,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 4,229 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,201,000. Palouse Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 239.3% during the 1st quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,341 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 82.2% during the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 511,100 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $36,227,000 after buying an additional 230,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 329.9% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $63.90 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $65.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.22 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. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1 year low of $59.27 and a 1 year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 11.50%. The business'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 earned $5.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director now owns 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America began coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.72.

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.

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