StockNews.com Upgrades Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) to “Hold”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $76.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.13. Meritage Homes has a 52 week low of $69.26 and a 52 week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 13.16%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 235.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by 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.