Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $71.88 and last traded at $72.74, with a volume of 178954 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MTH shares. Raymond James cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.38.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 10.02 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GTS Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $130,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $9,537,000. Woodson Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP now owns 38,300 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $1,031,000. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.