Insider Selling: Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) CAO Sells 151 Shares of Stock

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) CAO Alison Sasser sold 151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.80, for a total transaction of $11,596.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $684,057.60. The trade was a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock traded down $2.84 on Wednesday, reaching $74.65. 828,095 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,052,594. The company has a 50 day moving average of $72.54 and a 200 day moving average of $72.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $84.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.48.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 7.73%.The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.72 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 27.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 265.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 194.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group set a $95.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $77.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.63.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.