Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,600 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 10.6% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 95,218 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $16,707,000 after acquiring an additional 9,128 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 79,358 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,924,000 after purchasing an additional 4,435 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 216,400 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,970,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 204.5% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,378 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,165,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth about $25,495,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,136,850. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $182.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.93. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $213.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 1.80. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.56.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 13.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MTH. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush upgraded Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.83.

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.