Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $109.56.

Several research firms have recently commented on MTH. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $102.50 to $117.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James lowered shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price target (down previously from $205.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $75.52 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $88.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.87. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $73.05 and a 12 month high of $106.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.15. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 65.7% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,259 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,539,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 49.4% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 33,489 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,420,000 after acquiring an additional 11,072 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 141.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 102,900 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,654,000 after acquiring an additional 60,300 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,546 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,750,000 after acquiring an additional 11,558 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 47.3% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,364 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.