Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $59.00 and last traded at $59.0310, with a volume of 655666 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.33.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.28, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 7.73%.The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.72 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total transaction of $2,510,401.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,389 shares in the company, valued at $19,917,154.61. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $834,352.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 124,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,540,772.35. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the second quarter worth $75,148,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,987,850 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,980,000 after purchasing an additional 609,866 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,423,013 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $95,299,000 after purchasing an additional 527,265 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,477,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,000,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $66,970,000 after buying an additional 500,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.