Short Interest in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Decreases By 17.4%

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,180,000 shares, a decrease of 17.4% from the March 15th total of 2,640,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 979,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value 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 $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,293 shares of the construction company's stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,758 shares of the construction company's stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 100.0% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:MTH traded down $1.09 on Friday, reaching $67.83. The stock had a trading volume of 106,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,883. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.08 and a 200 day moving average of $81.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.69. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

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.