Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $68.71 and last traded at $70.10, with a volume of 25621 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $74.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.14. The company has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 1.92.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MTH. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at $101,695,000. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at $76,910,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 2,199.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 305,605 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,008,000 after purchasing an additional 292,317 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 205.5% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 418,884 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $64,433,000 after buying an additional 281,773 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at $43,147,000. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.