Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Down 6.8% - Should You Sell?

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 6.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $166.54 and last traded at $168.19. Approximately 9,961 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 98% from the average daily volume of 407,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $213.83.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $196.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.89. The stock has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 1.80.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The firm 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 company earned $5.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,872 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 22,051 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,301 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 27,190 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,576,000 after purchasing an additional 13,812 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 264.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,259 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 8,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,462,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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