Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Trading Down 3% – Time to Sell?

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)’s stock price fell 3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $196.36 and last traded at $196.36. 21,010 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 413,784 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. 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 report on Friday, July 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.45. The firm has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93.

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

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 13.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total value of $595,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,837,936.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,136,850. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised 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 during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth approximately $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 16.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Meritage Homes

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.