Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

MTH has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed an underperform rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.7 %

MTH opened at $169.48 on Friday. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $179.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $159.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.95. The company has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.77.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 19.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 13.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,156.3% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,201 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 4,787 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 39,500 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,834,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at $209,000. Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 2,695 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,948 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.