Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Sets New 12-Month High at $183.25

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $183.25 and last traded at $179.52, with a volume of 80471 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MTH shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 2.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 1.75. The business's 50 day moving average price is $160.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.55 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $798,813.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 3.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,170,062 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $510,374,000 after purchasing an additional 151,946 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 826,791 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $144,027,000 after acquiring an additional 12,841 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 143,440 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 689,600 shares of the construction company's stock worth $84,400,000 after acquiring an additional 61,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 523,332 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $91,164,000 after purchasing an additional 26,682 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.