Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.8889.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MTH shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Zacks Research downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group set a $86.00 price target on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE MTH opened at $74.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.98. The company has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $58.03 and a 12 month high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.69 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total value of $79,066.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares in the company, valued at $474,147.74. This represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.0% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,223 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Essential Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 163.8% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 401 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 17.5% in the first quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 235,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,532,000 after acquiring an additional 35,000 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 54.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 18,247 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 6,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 25.1% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 83,892 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,188,000 after acquiring an additional 16,846 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.