Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $215.14.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $197.00 target price (down previously from $220.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush upgraded Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $151.91 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.82. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $147.77 and a 12 month high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes shares are set to split on the morning of Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly issued shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, December 31st.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 13.58%.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 734.4% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 272,122 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,804,000 after purchasing an additional 239,511 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,029,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth about $36,365,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 75.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,206,000 after buying an additional 148,898 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at approximately $22,887,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.