Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Sets New 12-Month High at $183.25

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $183.25 and last traded at $179.52, with a volume of 80471 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $173.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on MTH shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $161.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.84.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. Equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 13.99%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.