Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) EVP Javier Feliciano Sells 3,580 Shares of Stock

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total value of $272,939.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 44,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,844.40. This represents a 7.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MTH traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $74.84. 74,082 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,026,246. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.66 and a 200 day moving average of $72.56. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1 year low of $59.27 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 9.28%. Meritage Homes’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,901,851 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $190,943,000 after buying an additional 16,338 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 44.3% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,987,850 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $143,980,000 after acquiring an additional 609,866 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,465,340 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $96,419,000 after purchasing an additional 12,386 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,423,013 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $95,299,000 after purchasing an additional 527,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,148,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MTH. Evercore set a $77.00 price target on Meritage Homes and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.63.

Trending Headlines about 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.