Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 11,117 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 46.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,919 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,117 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. First Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% during the first quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 3,144 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 62.3% during the first quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 5,560 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 99.6% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 98,150 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,957,000 after acquiring an additional 48,975 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.4% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 20,623 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 10,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.8% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,266 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MTH. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE:MTH traded down $1.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.71. 1,112,958 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 889,085. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.37. Meritage Homes Corporation has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $106.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.89.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.06 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.06%.

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.