Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,205 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 440 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned 0.09% of Meritage Homes worth $5,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 33,536 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,842,000 after acquiring an additional 13,538 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,205,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 140.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,482 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,826,000 after buying an additional 6,119 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth approximately $1,908,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 25,235 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,396,000 after buying an additional 8,225 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MTH. StockNews.com upgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.25.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $155.48 on Thursday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $109.23 and a 12 month high of $189.96. The stock has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 1.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $171.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

About Meritage Homes

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.