Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $93.00 price target (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.00.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH opened at $72.83 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.85 and a 200-day moving average of $70.42. The company has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.35. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $58.03 and a 1-year high of $85.38. 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 (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 42.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 12,557 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 3,711 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the period. Moulton Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 62.4% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,351 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Meritage Homes

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.