Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) CAO Sells $11,191.76 in Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) CAO Alison Sasser sold 152 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.63, for a total value of $11,191.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,077.90. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Alison Sasser also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, February 19th, Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28.
• On Wednesday, February 12th, Alison Sasser sold 260 shares of Meritage Homes stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $19,055.40.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $74.78 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.72. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $71.05 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 1.88.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MTH. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.25.

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.