Alison Sasser Sells 676 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Alison Sasser also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, February 12th, Alison Sasser sold 260 shares of Meritage Homes stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $19,055.40.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $74.22. 584,780 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 959,834. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.87 and a 200 day moving average of $90.26. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.05 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTH. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 31.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,113 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after purchasing an additional 3,107 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 32.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,546 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,750,000 after purchasing an additional 11,558 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 125.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 509 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 6.9% in the third quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 30,505 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,979 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently 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.