Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Gap Down to $177.04

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $177.04, but opened at $172.50. Meritage Homes shares last traded at $175.79, with a volume of 101,711 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 1.0 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $161.32 and a 200-day moving average of $155.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 1.75.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. Analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 13.99%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 31,901 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,597,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 600.0% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,100 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 62.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,170 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,101,000 after buying an additional 17,719 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 4.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Meritage Homes by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,228 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 3,805 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% 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.