Insider Selling: Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) COO Sells 595 Shares of Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $73.75 on Friday. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $72.19 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.86. The firm has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a PE ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.88.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 11.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.