Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stock Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 97.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 23,802 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,747 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 12,504 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,564,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 6.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,961 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth about $1,804,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,035 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $100,286,000 after acquiring an additional 5,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 49.6% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 73,469 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,066,000 after purchasing an additional 24,362 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $73.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.92. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $68.93 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MTH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

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.