Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Short Interest Down 21.1% in April

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 652,900 shares, a decline of 21.1% from the March 31st total of 827,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 433,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total value of $35,340.69. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH traded up $4.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $169.48. The stock had a trading volume of 593,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,394. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $159.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.42. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.77. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $179.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. As a group, research analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 19.95 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 1.77%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. StockNews.com upgraded Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.