Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Price Up 3.9% – Here’s What Happened

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)’s stock price shot up 3.9% on Friday . The company traded as high as $70.52 and last traded at $69.22. 766,674 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 955,226 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 3.7 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.69.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 14,589 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,349,000 after purchasing an additional 78,087 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,218,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,337,000 after buying an additional 4,397 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.