Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Hits New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $126.00 to $118.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meritage Homes traded as low as $73.16 and last traded at $73.39, with a volume of 33217 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.49.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $102.50 to $117.50 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,126 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 7.2% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 2,665 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 86.8% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,140 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $992,000 after buying an additional 2,853 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 11.0% during the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter worth about $222,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.87.

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 business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 13.59%.

About Meritage Homes

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.