Alison Sasser Sells 676 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $19,055.40.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $73.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 1.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $80.38 and its 200-day moving average is $90.03. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $71.05 and a 1 year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on MTH shares. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 31.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,113 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 3,107 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,546 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,750,000 after acquiring an additional 11,558 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 125.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 509 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 30,505 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by 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.