Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $215.14.

MTH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James cut shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush raised Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $197.00 price objective (down previously from $220.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $151.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.82. Meritage Homes has a 52 week low of $147.77 and a 52 week high of $213.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.45.

Meritage Homes shares are going to split before the market opens on Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, December 31st.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter worth $64,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Meritage Homes

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.