Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.7143.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $556,069.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 221,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,707,813.20. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.5% during the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,566 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.8% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,439 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised 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. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 41.7% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.5% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,658 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $77.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.52 and a 200-day moving average of $69.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 10.27%.Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.47%.

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.