Meritage Homes Co. (MTH) To Go Ex-Dividend on June 16th

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share by the construction company on Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th.

Meritage Homes has a dividend payout ratio of 18.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Meritage Homes to earn $10.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.0%.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $64.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $106.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.37.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.06 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 41,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 102.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 319,150 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $22,621,000 after acquiring an additional 161,806 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 111.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,971 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 17,343 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 58.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $75,051,000 after acquiring an additional 391,297 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 51.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,937 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $917,000 after acquiring an additional 4,407 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 134.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,658 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 22,162 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.