Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Sees Large Volume Increase - What's Next?

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 1,515,827 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 73% from the previous session's volume of 875,764 shares.The stock last traded at $76.35 and had previously closed at $76.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James lowered shares of Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wedbush raised shares of Meritage Homes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $97.50 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.57.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $91.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.73.

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

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.58%.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 2.9% during the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the construction company's stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,719 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,126 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.