Meritage Homes Co. (MTH) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.75 on September 30th

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of 0.75 per share by the construction company on Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th.

Meritage Homes has a payout ratio of 13.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Meritage Homes to earn $21.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.6%.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 4.1 %

NYSE MTH opened at $203.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $188.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.64. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $210.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93. The company has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.80.

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 analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.02 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 21.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Meritage Homes news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,793.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MTH. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Wedbush increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

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.