Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $76.75

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $76.75.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zelman & Associates cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Evercore set a $65.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, July 31st.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH opened at $62.41 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $68.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.86. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $58.03 and a 1 year high of $85.38. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 7.13%. The firm’s revenue was down 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth $112,498,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,053,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at about $68,873,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 267.8% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 356,121 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,861,000 after buying an additional 259,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas FRM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter worth about $18,447,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a residential construction company that designs and builds single-family homes in the United States. The company primarily serves entry-level and first-time move-up buyers, offering homes in a range of floor plans, sizes and price points. Its communities typically feature energy-efficient designs and include standard features intended to improve home performance, comfort and affordability.

Meritage Homes develops communities in selected markets across the South, Southeast and West, including areas of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.