Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $196.83.

Several research firms recently weighed in on MTH. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total transaction of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,793.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,837,936.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MTH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,297,000. Long Pond Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,303,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the first quarter worth $25,495,000. Boston Partners bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at $23,106,000. Finally, Blackstone Inc. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 216.7% during the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 190,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,337,000 after purchasing an additional 130,000 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $202.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $172.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.64. The company has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $205.20.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.02 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 20.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.99%.

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.