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

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 97.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,802 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 11,747 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 232,835 shares of the construction company's stock worth $35,815,000 after buying an additional 37,023 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth $517,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.2% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 68,051 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $10,468,000 after acquiring an additional 26,345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

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Meritage Homes Stock Down 3.2 %

MTH traded down $2.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $70.36. 498,170 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 861,323. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $68.93 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The stock has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.92. The business's 50 day moving average is $75.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.44. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.