Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Hits New 12-Month High at $210.84

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $210.84 and last traded at $207.65, with a volume of 208630 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $204.35.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 1.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $191.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.98.

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

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,793.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,136,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,793.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 157.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter worth about $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.