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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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

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

Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.3 %

Meritage Homes stock traded up $0.97 during trading on Thursday, hitting $74.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 584,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 959,834. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $80.87 and its 200 day moving average is $90.26. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $71.05 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.88.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.47%.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 65.7% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,259 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,539,000 after acquiring an additional 6,843 shares during the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 11,558 shares during the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,163,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes 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.