Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $64.86 and last traded at $67.37, with a volume of 207580 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $69.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.19 and a 200-day moving average of $83.95.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 approximately $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MTH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,349,000 after purchasing an additional 78,087 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 14,589 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,337,000 after buying an additional 4,397 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $3,218,000. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.