Brokerages Set Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) PT at $172.67

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $172.67.

Several research firms have issued reports on MTH. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wedbush lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH opened at $152.06 on Friday. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $179.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $159.30 and its 200-day moving average is $151.25.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.18 by $0.20. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. On average, analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 17.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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