Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Chairman Purchases $819,610.00 in Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $73.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $72.19 and a 52-week high of $106.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.86. The company has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.88.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MTH. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.