Alison Sasser Sells 152 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) CAO Alison Sasser sold 152 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.63, for a total value of $11,191.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,330 shares in the company, valued at $466,077.90. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Alison Sasser also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, February 19th, Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28.
• 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 transaction of $19,055.40.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $76.07 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.83. 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 $71.05 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.88.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. On average, analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MTH. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,074,741 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $626,777,000 after acquiring an additional 26,889 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,773,609 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $363,714,000 after purchasing an additional 74,422 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $101,695,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 61.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 571,120 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $87,850,000 after purchasing an additional 217,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,910,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on 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. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

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.