Insider Selling: Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) CAO Sells 152 Shares of Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) CAO Alison Sasser sold 152 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.63, for a total value of $11,191.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,077.90. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, February 19th, Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28.
• 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 down $1.52 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $72.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 931,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,799. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $80.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.88. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $71.05 and a one year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued 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%. 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,074,741 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $626,777,000 after acquiring an additional 26,889 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Meritage Homes by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,773,609 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $363,714,000 after purchasing an additional 74,422 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,695,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 571,120 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $87,850,000 after purchasing an additional 217,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,910,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MTH shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

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.