Steven J. Hilton Buys 11,000 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.3 %

MTH opened at $73.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 1.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.05. 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 current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 15.5% in 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 period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.