Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) CFO Sells $512,500.00 in Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $512,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,136,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $191.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $174.33 and a 200 day moving average of $167.45. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $109.23 and a 12 month high of $210.58.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.02 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 91.6% during 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 period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.60.

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.