Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Gap Down to $213.69

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $213.69, but opened at $205.16. Meritage Homes shares last traded at $208.68, with a volume of 97,602 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.30.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at $2,837,936.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total transaction of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,793.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 157.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter worth $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.