Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.72.

MTH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH opened at $62.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.01. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 11.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.06 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 166.5% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 77.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.