Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Lowered to “In-Line” Rating by Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI lowered shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from an outperform rating to an in-line rating in a research report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Evercore ISI currently has $82.00 price target on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $100.00.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MTH. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meritage Homes from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wedbush cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.57.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 3.5%

NYSE MTH opened at $69.69 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $102.91. The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.34 and its 200 day moving average is $70.34.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 15.47%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $665,840. This trade represents a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $556,069.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 221,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,707,813.20. The trade was a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 5.8% in the 1st 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. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 136.0% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,901 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 2,248 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 100.7% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,325 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,149,000 after buying an additional 15,218 shares in the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 182.0% during the 1st quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 1,255 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 151.0% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,202 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731 shares in the last quarter. 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.