Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Short Interest Up 14.3% in January

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) was the target of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,110,000 shares, an increase of 14.3% from the January 15th total of 2,720,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 938,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH traded up $0.25 on Monday, hitting $73.75. The company had a trading volume of 632,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 947,194. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.70. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $72.19 and a 1 year high of $106.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.88.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 10.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

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.