Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Receives "Neutral" Rating from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated their neutral rating on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $197.00 target price on the construction company's stock, down from their prior target price of $220.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wedbush raised Meritage Homes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James lowered shares of Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $215.14.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH stock traded down $9.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $168.43. The stock had a trading volume of 741,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,812. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $147.77 and a 12-month high of $213.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.87.

Shares of Meritage Homes are going to split on the morning of Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, December 31st.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.29. 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $5.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 734.4% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 272,122 shares of the construction company's stock worth $55,804,000 after purchasing an additional 239,511 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,029,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,365,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 75.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $71,206,000 after buying an additional 148,898 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $22,887,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.