Meritage Homes’ (MTH) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush restated their neutral rating on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,RTT News reports. Wedbush currently has a $103.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $205.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.56.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $76.12 on Tuesday. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $73.05 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.51.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.58%.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 58 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.