Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $154.69, but opened at $165.31. Meritage Homes shares last traded at $161.82, with a volume of 157,788 shares trading hands.

The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.92%.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,408.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,170,062 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $510,374,000 after buying an additional 151,946 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 826,791 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $144,027,000 after purchasing an additional 12,841 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 779,549 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $135,797,000 after purchasing an additional 143,440 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 689,600 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $84,400,000 after purchasing an additional 61,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 523,332 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $91,164,000 after buying an additional 26,682 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 2.7 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.77.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.