Short Interest in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Decreases By 24.7%

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 827,900 shares, a drop of 24.7% from the March 15th total of 1,100,000 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 418,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MTH traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $159.13. 246,551 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 410,656. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $109.23 and a 12-month high of $179.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.41. 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 company has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 1.77.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.20. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.03% and a net margin of 12.03%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 17.76 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares of the company's stock, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 137.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 12,550 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 7,266 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 43.7% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,740 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 1,138 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter valued at $464,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,632 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 49.3% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 19,463 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,542,000 after buying an additional 6,431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MTH. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wedbush lowered Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $155.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $172.67.

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.