Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.78.

MTH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Evercore set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Essential Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 163.8% during the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 401 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 106.9% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 573 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 767.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 616 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 43.9% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 774 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.1%

MTH stock opened at $64.39 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $56.66 and a 1-year high of $85.38. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 1.33.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.06). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.34%.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a residential construction company that designs and builds single-family homes in the United States. The company primarily serves entry-level and first-time homebuyers, offering homes in a range of floor plans and communities designed around affordability, energy efficiency and modern features.

Meritage Homes sells homes through its own communities and provides related services, including land acquisition and development, home design, construction, sales and customer support.