Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Gap Up to $150.14

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $150.14, but opened at $154.50. Meritage Homes shares last traded at $152.71, with a volume of 10,098 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Wedbush cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $159.07 and its 200-day moving average is $151.44. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.18 by $0.20. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,695 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,380 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,821 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.