Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on MTH. Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $97.50 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $102.50 to $117.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.57.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH opened at $75.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $73.89 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $90.73 and a 200-day moving average of $92.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.83.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.58%.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted 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.