Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Upgraded at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on MTH. Citigroup began coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Evercore set a $77.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.33.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 3.8%

NYSE MTH opened at $68.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $73.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.45. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The business’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 27.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total transaction of $2,510,401.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 260,389 shares in the company, valued at $19,917,154.61. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total transaction of $272,939.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 44,935 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,844.40. The trade was a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 194.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.