Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 11,747 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 97.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 3,044.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 912 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth about $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 0.4 %

Meritage Homes stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $72.96. 824,475 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 826,908. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $68.93 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 1.92. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $75.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.79.

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Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 note on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.