Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) EVP Sells $10,982.40 in Stock

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) EVP Austin Woffinden sold 143 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.80, for a total value of $10,982.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,581,696. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $75.38 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.60. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Evercore set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,901,851 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $190,943,000 after purchasing an additional 16,338 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 44.3% in 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. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,465,340 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $96,419,000 after buying an additional 12,386 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in 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 valued at $95,299,000 after buying an additional 527,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,148,000. Institutional investors 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.