Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) CEO Phillippe Lord Sells 32,820 Shares

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total value of $2,510,401.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,917,154.61. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH traded down $2.61 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $74.87. 40,569 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,052,592. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $84.74. The company has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $72.66 and its 200 day moving average is $72.56.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.72 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 27.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 10,627 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp grew its position in Meritage Homes by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,559 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 808 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore set a $77.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.63.

Key Headlines Impacting Meritage Homes

Here are the key news stories impacting Meritage Homes this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Mithril press release mentioning ticker “MTH” is unrelated to Meritage Homes; this is an ASX/TSXV ticker and may cause ticker-confusion but has no operational impact on Meritage Homes. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares at an average price of $76.49 (~$2.51M); this reduced his direct ownership by ~11.19% though he still holds ~260,389 shares (~$19.9M). SEC filing: Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares at an average price of $76.35 (~$834k), reducing her stake by ~8.04%; she still holds ~124,961 shares (~$9.54M). SEC filing: Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares at an average price of $76.24 (~$273k), a ~7.38% reduction of his holdings; he still holds ~44,935 shares (~$3.43M). SEC filing: Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Austin Woffinden sold 143 shares at ~$76.80 (~$11k), a ~0.69% reduction; he still holds ~20,595 shares (~$1.58M). SEC filing: Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: CAO Alison Sasser sold 151 shares at ~$76.80 (~$11.6k), a ~1.67% reduction; she still holds ~8,907 shares (~$684k). SEC filing: Read More.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single?family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high?performance features aimed at reducing long?term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.