Meritage Homes Co. (MTH) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 17th

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the construction company on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a 14.7% increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38.

Meritage Homes has a payout ratio of 16.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Meritage Homes to earn $10.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.0%.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE MTH opened at $70.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.04. 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 has a one year low of $68.93 and a one year high of $106.99. The firm has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 1.92.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, 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 value of $43,607.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.