Brokerages Set Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Target Price at $106.25

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.25.

A number of equities analysts have commented on MTH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $98.50 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 125.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 509 shares of the construction company's stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Meritage Homes stock traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $75.16. 510,629 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 999,320. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $73.05 and a 1 year high of $106.99. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $82.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.88.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 10.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.47%.

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.