Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Director Buys $264,640.00 in Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $64.31 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.37. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.06 EPS. Meritage Homes’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.72.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,628 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $372,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 30,322 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,664,000 after buying an additional 8,271 shares during the period. Castellan Group boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Castellan Group now owns 33,585 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 111,115 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $17,092,000 after purchasing an additional 4,838 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.