Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Given New $118.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by UBS Group from $126.00 to $118.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the construction company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $102.50 to $117.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 price target (down from $205.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.56.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock traded up $1.63 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.12. 1,001,413 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,163,303. The company has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.87. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $90.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.74. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $73.05 and a twelve month high of $106.99. 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 (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The company's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given 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 1.97%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is 13.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth $61,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.