Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Trading Down 8.8% - Time to Sell?

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) fell 8.8% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $68.39 and last traded at $68.17. 563,280 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 952,880 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.78.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average is $67.57 and its 200 day moving average is $70.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.37.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.15 earnings per share. Meritage Homes's revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.47%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 166.5% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 54.9% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 618 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 77.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.