Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $197.00 target price (down previously from $220.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush raised Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.14.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 5.1 %

NYSE:MTH opened at $168.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 1.82. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $147.77 and a one year high of $213.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.83.

Shares of Meritage Homes are going to split before the market opens on Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly issued shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, December 31st.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.9% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,719 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $558,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.1% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,126 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. 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.