Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Zelman & Associates lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.22.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $73.48 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $71.19 and its 200-day moving average is $70.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.35. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $58.03 and a 12-month high of $85.38.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $79,066.03. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,147.74. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,901,851 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $190,943,000 after purchasing an additional 16,338 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,465,340 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $96,419,000 after purchasing an additional 12,386 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,423,013 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $95,299,000 after purchasing an additional 527,265 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $75,051,000 after buying an additional 391,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth about $63,053,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.