Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Gap Down to $213.69

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $213.69, but opened at $205.16. Meritage Homes shares last traded at $208.68, with a volume of 97,602 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MTH shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 3.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.81.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.99%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,136,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total value of $595,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at $2,837,936.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were 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 approximately $9,136,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 2.5% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 718,607 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $116,307,000 after acquiring an additional 17,843 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 523,332 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $91,164,000 after acquiring an additional 26,682 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 13.5% in the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 490,660 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $86,091,000 after acquiring an additional 58,350 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth about $76,297,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 315,931 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $51,133,000 after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares during the period. 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.