Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Stock Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.78.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. Zacks Research cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Evercore set a $65.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Zelman & Associates cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set a “sell” rating and a $59.00 target price for the company.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH stock opened at $64.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.72. Meritage Homes has a 52-week low of $56.66 and a 52-week high of $85.38. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.02.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.34%.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Essential Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 163.8% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 401 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 106.9% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 573 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 774 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 767.6% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 616 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a residential construction company that designs and builds single-family homes in the United States. The company primarily serves entry-level and first-time homebuyers, offering homes in a range of floor plans and communities designed around affordability, energy efficiency and modern features.

Meritage Homes sells homes through its own communities and provides related services, including land acquisition and development, home design, construction, sales and customer support.