Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Increases Dividend to $0.43 Per Share

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share by the construction company on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a 14.7% increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38.

Meritage Homes has a dividend payout ratio of 16.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Meritage Homes to earn $10.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.0%.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $70.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $68.93 and a one year high of $106.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.04.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547. Insiders own 2.00% 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.