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

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.72.

A number of analysts have weighed in on MTH shares. Wall Street Zen cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $65.92 on Friday. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.80.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.06 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 41,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 166.5% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 77.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.