Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.89.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $61.51 on Tuesday. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $58.03 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In related news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total transaction of $272,939.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,844.40. This trade represents a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total transaction of $2,510,401.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,917,154.61. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 48,895 shares of company stock valued at $3,719,339 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 194.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 43.9% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 774 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.