Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Down 3.8% - Should You Sell?

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 3.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $185.38 and last traded at $186.23. Approximately 83,015 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 402,890 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $213.83.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 5.0 %

The business's fifty day moving average is $196.63 and its 200-day moving average is $180.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.58 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.02 earnings per share. Meritage Homes's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total transaction of $2,003,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,084,793.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total transaction of $2,003,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is 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.