Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Receives $172.67 Average Price Target from Analysts

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $172.67.

MTH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $148.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total value of $35,340.69. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,859 shares in the company, valued at $284,408.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,859 shares in the company, valued at $284,408.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 2,863 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the first quarter worth about $1,908,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 23.1% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,456 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after buying an additional 2,150 shares during the period. Security National Bank boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Security National Bank now owns 59,250 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $10,396,000 after acquiring an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH opened at $150.09 on Friday. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $179.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 1.77. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $159.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.23.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 17.78 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

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.