Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Hits New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $126.00 to $118.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meritage Homes traded as low as $73.16 and last traded at $73.39, with a volume of 33217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.49.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of 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 Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 price objective (down previously from $205.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $98.50 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $102.50 to $117.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

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

Meritage Homes Trading Up 2.2 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $90.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.87.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 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 previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Meritage Homes's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.27 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is 13.59%.

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.