Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.2222.

MTH has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on Meritage Homes and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of MTH opened at $74.13 on Friday. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $58.03 and a 1 year high of $85.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.21. The firm has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $79,066.03. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares in the company, valued at $474,147.74. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 134.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,658 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after buying an additional 22,162 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 51.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,937 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $917,000 after acquiring an additional 4,407 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $75,051,000 after acquiring an additional 391,297 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 111.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,971 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 17,343 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 102.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 319,150 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $22,621,000 after acquiring an additional 161,806 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.