Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $102.50 to $117.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James cut shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $97.50 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.57.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $75.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $73.89 and a 1 year high of $106.99. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $90.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.68.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.15. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth $28,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently 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.