Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) EVP Sells $595,080.00 in Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total value of $595,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.1 %

MTH stock opened at $203.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $109.23 and a 12 month high of $210.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 1.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.11.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.02 EPS. Meritage Homes’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,297,000. Long Pond Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,303,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,495,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $22,887,000. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at $23,106,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.