Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $154.69, but opened at $165.31. Meritage Homes shares last traded at $161.82, with a volume of 157,788 shares traded.

The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.03% and a net margin of 12.03%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MTH. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,408.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 33,536 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,842,000 after purchasing an additional 13,538 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at $3,205,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 25,235 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,396,000 after buying an additional 8,225 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Meritage Homes by 388.4% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 42,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,140,000 after buying an additional 33,400 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 52,029 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,368,000 after acquiring an additional 14,362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 1.77.

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.