Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price target (down previously from $205.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $102.50 to $117.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James cut shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.56.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.2 %

Meritage Homes stock opened at $75.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $73.05 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.87.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.15. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,763 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 9.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 244,776 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,196,000 after purchasing an additional 21,092 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter worth $16,056,000. Castellan Group raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Castellan Group now owns 31,981 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at $230,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.