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

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $172.67.

Several research firms have issued reports on MTH. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush downgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH opened at $150.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $109.23 and a 12-month high of $179.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.23.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.18 by $0.20. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.03% and a net margin of 12.03%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 17.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,300.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 717,578 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $102,090,000 after purchasing an additional 666,349 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth about $76,297,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 252.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 488,657 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,054,000 after buying an additional 350,204 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 6,472.4% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 328,161 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $38,316,000 after acquiring an additional 323,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 327.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 351,259 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,013,000 after acquiring an additional 269,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.