The Goldman Sachs Group Has Lowered Expectations for Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Price

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) had its price objective cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $117.50 to $100.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the construction company's stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MTH. UBS Group dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.38.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 3.7 %

MTH stock traded up $2.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.48. 1,256,621 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,070,278. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $73.05 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $88.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.57. The company has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.87.

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 business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 65.7% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,259 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,539,000 after acquiring an additional 6,843 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 49.4% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 33,489 shares of the construction company's stock worth $5,420,000 after purchasing an additional 11,072 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 141.5% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 102,900 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $16,654,000 after purchasing an additional 60,300 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 32.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,546 shares of the construction company's stock worth $9,750,000 after purchasing an additional 11,558 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 47.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,364 shares of the construction company's stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

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.