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

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) gapped up before the market opened 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MTH. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wedbush cut Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.23 and a 200-day moving average of $151.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 1.77.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 137.5% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 12,550 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $994,000 after purchasing an additional 7,266 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,740 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 1,138 shares during the period. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the first quarter worth $464,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 7.0% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,632 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 49.3% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 19,463 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 6,431 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.