Alison Sasser Sells 1,273 Shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock

Key Points

• Meritage Homes CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares on May 12 at an average price of $62.11, totaling about $79,066. After the sale, she still owned 7,634 shares.
• The company recently reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, posting $0.86 EPS versus the $0.98 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.12 billion versus expectations of $1.55 billion. Revenue fell 17.5% year over year.
• Meritage Homes increased its quarterly dividend to $0.48 from $0.43, equal to an annualized payout of $1.92 and a yield of about 3.1%.

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total value of $79,066.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at $474,147.74. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Alison Sasser also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 24th, Alison Sasser sold 151 shares of Meritage Homes stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.80, for a total value of $11,596.80.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH traded down $0.97 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $61.51. The stock had a trading volume of 638,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,008,014. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.03 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.17.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. The business's revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 265.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 194.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 43.9% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 774 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Meritage Homes from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Bank of America cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.89.

About Meritage Homes

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.

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