Meritage Homes Shares Scheduled to Split on Friday, January 3rd (NYSE:MTH)

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) shares are going to split on the morning of Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly minted shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, December 31st.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $163.80 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $185.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.87. Meritage Homes has a 52-week low of $147.77 and a 52-week high of $213.98. The company has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a PE ratio of 7.42 and a beta of 1.82.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MTH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $197.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.14.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MTH. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 734.4% during 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 Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,029,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,365,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 75.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,206,000 after acquiring an additional 148,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter worth about $22,887,000. 98.44% of the stock is 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.