Meritage Homes Co. (MTH) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.27 on December 29th

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 16th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of 0.27 per share by the construction company on Friday, December 29th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th.

Meritage Homes has a payout ratio of 5.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Meritage Homes to earn $19.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.5%.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $142.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $80.25 and a fifty-two week high of $152.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $123.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.53.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The construction company reported $5.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.88. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 12.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 19.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $155.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,821 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,329 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,024 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.3% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,451 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 53,627 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,944,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.48% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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 first-time and first move-up buyers in Texas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.