Meritage Homes’ (MTH) “Underperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Wedbush reiterated their underperform rating on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $148.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $169.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.77. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $179.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.42.

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

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,170,062 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $510,374,000 after acquiring an additional 151,946 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 826,791 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $144,027,000 after acquiring an additional 12,841 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 779,549 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $135,797,000 after acquiring an additional 143,440 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 689,600 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $84,400,000 after acquiring an additional 61,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 523,332 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $91,164,000 after buying an additional 26,682 shares during the last quarter. 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.