Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $218.17.

MTH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush raised Meritage Homes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Raymond James cut Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,773,609 shares of the construction company's stock worth $363,714,000 after buying an additional 74,422 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 718,607 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $116,307,000 after purchasing an additional 17,843 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,035 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $100,286,000 after buying an additional 5,732 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 483,159 shares of the construction company's stock worth $99,081,000 after buying an additional 102,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $71,206,000 after acquiring an additional 148,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 6.2 %

Meritage Homes stock traded up $11.42 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $195.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 400,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 411,039. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $192.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Meritage Homes has a 52-week low of $137.70 and a 52-week high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes's stock is going to split on Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, December 31st.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is 13.58%.

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.