Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Upgraded to “Hold” at Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on MTH. UBS Group lowered their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $76.70 on Thursday. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $69.26 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $79.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.88.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth about $92,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 42.1% during the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 675 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

About Meritage Homes

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.