Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) COO Clinton Szubinski Sells 595 Shares of Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH opened at $73.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $82.28 and a 200-day moving average of $91.05. The company has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 1.88. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $72.19 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61.

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

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 11.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 65.7% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,259 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,539,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,546 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,750,000 after buying an additional 11,558 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 125.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 509 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,364 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MTH. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James lowered shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

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.