Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH – Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meritage Homes from $87.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Meritage Homes from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $129.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 6th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $104.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. TheStreet raised Meritage Homes from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Thursday, December 8th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $106.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $110.86.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE MTH opened at $109.47 on Thursday. Meritage Homes has a 52 week low of $62.51 and a 52 week high of $117.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $107.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The construction company reported $7.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.06. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 27.92% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 32.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 12.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.04%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Raymond Oppel sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.22, for a total value of $551,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,102,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Raymond Oppel sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.22, for a total value of $551,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,102,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 345 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.16, for a total value of $39,385.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,460.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,683 shares of company stock valued at $1,290,994. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TFO TDC LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 139.2% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 476 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 71.2% during the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 647 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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Meritage Homes Corp. engages in the design and construction of single family attached and detached homes. It operates through the Homebuilding and Financial Services segments. The Homebuilding segment acquires and develops lands, constructs homes, markets and sells those homes, and provides warranty and customer services.