Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Price Target Lowered to $72.00 at Bank of America

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price target lowered by Bank of America from $74.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on MTH. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.11.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.9%

MTH opened at $69.36 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $58.03 and a twelve month high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total value of $2,510,401.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 260,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,917,154.61. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,844.40. This trade represents a 7.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,622 shares of company stock valued at $3,640,273. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 265.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 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 acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.