Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Receives $80.22 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.00.

Several brokerages have weighed in on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Zelman & Associates cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total value of $79,066.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,147.74. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Meritage Homes by 134.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,658 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 22,162 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 51.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,937 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 4,407 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $75,051,000 after purchasing an additional 391,297 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 111.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,971 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 17,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 102.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 319,150 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $22,621,000 after purchasing an additional 161,806 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.7%

MTH opened at $72.83 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.96. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $58.03 and a twelve month high of $85.38. The firm has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. The company’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 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

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

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.