Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Price Up 7.8% – Should You Buy?

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) shares traded up 7.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $81.99 and last traded at $81.5050. 139,559 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 973,587 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MTH. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.89.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 8.9%

The stock has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $67.58 and its 200-day moving average is $68.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.08%. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $79,066.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,147.74. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at $1,880,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 84.2% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 107,394 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,779,000 after acquiring an additional 49,101 shares during the period. Bayhunt Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth about $7,922,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,987,850 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,980,000 after acquiring an additional 609,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 234.7% during the fourth quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,090 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,177,000 after purchasing an additional 23,204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single?family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high?performance features aimed at reducing long?term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.