Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 10.6% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 9,128 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.9% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 79,358 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,924,000 after buying 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 first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 216,400 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,970,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the period. 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,495,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.4 %

MTH stock opened at $182.84 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 1.80. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $109.23 and a 52 week high of $213.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $196.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.20%.

Meritage Homes 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.