Meritage Homes Corporation (MTH) - What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Meritage Homes, with seven holds, four buys and two sells. The average 12-month price target is $73.56, compared with the stock’s cited price of $64.22.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed: Goldman Sachs set an $82 buy target and UBS maintained a buy rating with an $88 target, while Zacks downgraded the stock to “strong sell” and Zelman & Associates cut it to “neutral.”
• Meritage Homes exceeded quarterly EPS expectations ($1.42 versus $1.30) but revenue fell 14.1% year over year to $1.41 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, representing a 3.0% annualized yield.

Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.56.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MTH shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $82.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Zacks Research lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zelman & Associates lowered Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Essential Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 163.8% in the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 401 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 767.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 616 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 774 shares of the construction company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 84.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the construction company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH stock opened at $64.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $56.66 and a 1 year high of $85.38. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $65.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.76. The firm has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 1.33.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.43 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 6.11%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

About Meritage Homes

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 homebuyers, offering homes in a range of floor plans and communities designed around affordability, energy efficiency and modern features.

Meritage Homes sells homes through its own communities and provides related services, including land acquisition and development, home design, construction, sales and customer support.

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