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

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $107.38.

Several brokerages have commented on MTH. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 target price (down previously from $205.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of MTH stock traded up $2.83 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $78.48. 1,256,621 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,070,272. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $88.83 and a 200 day moving average of $92.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $73.05 and a 1 year high of $106.99. The firm has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a PE ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.87.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.15. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Meritage Homes's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MTH. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.