Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 95.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 598,694 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 293,089 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.83% of Meritage Homes worth $42,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 660 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 60.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 60,882 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,315,000 after purchasing an additional 23,026 shares during the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 182.0% during the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 1,255 shares of the construction company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 166.3% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the construction company's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.9% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 34,100 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 16,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.76. 1,674,439 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 892,313. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1 year low of $59.27 and a 1 year high of $106.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.56. The stock has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 1.37.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 11.50%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $96.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.