Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $84.25.

MTH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $104.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 112,853 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,426,000 after buying an additional 2,788 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $437,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 60,040 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,949,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH opened at $69.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.02 and a beta of 1.48. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 8.96%.The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

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.