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

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $106.25.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH opened at $73.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.70. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $73.05 and a 12 month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. On average, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 10.52 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders 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 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTH. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 2,199.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 305,605 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,008,000 after purchasing an additional 292,317 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,147,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $55,804,000 after acquiring an additional 239,511 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,029,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,365,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.