Brokerages Set Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) PT at $97.72

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $97.72.

MTH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH traded down $1.37 on Monday, reaching $66.50. The stock had a trading volume of 499,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 880,583. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The business's 50-day moving average price is $68.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.90. The stock has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.50.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is 14.06%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 166.5% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 77.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

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.