Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Receives $83.63 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.6250.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $95.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $77.71 on Wednesday. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $59.27 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.48.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during 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 was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 27.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 194.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.