Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) CAO Alison Sasser Sells 1,273 Shares

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total value of $79,066.03. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,147.74. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Alison Sasser also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 24th, Alison Sasser sold 151 shares of Meritage Homes stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.80, for a total value of $11,596.80.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH opened at $61.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.10. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.03 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The company has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.43.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

Meritage Homes News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Meritage Homes this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research cut Meritage Homes’ Q1 2027 EPS estimate to $0.96 from $0.99 and kept a Strong Sell rating, signaling weaker near-term sentiment for the homebuilder.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also lowered estimates for Q2 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027, FY2027, and FY2028, suggesting analysts see softer earnings momentum ahead for MTH.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks published a bearish “Bear of the Day” note, saying Meritage’s downward EPS revisions since its April 22 earnings report were enough to earn a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling added to the cautious tone, with CAO Alison Sasser selling 1,273 shares in a transaction disclosed Tuesday, May 12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 194.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 43.9% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 774 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MTH shares. Zacks Research lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $86.00 price objective on Meritage Homes and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.89.

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.