Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Meritage Homes, with seven hold ratings and five buys. The average 12-month price target is $79.25, compared with the stock’s reported price of $73.69.
• Meritage Homes reported quarterly EPS of $1.42, exceeding estimates of $1.30, while revenue of $1.41 billion fell 14.1% year over year and missed estimates slightly.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, equivalent to a 2.6% annual yield; institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the outstanding shares.

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.25.

Several analysts have commented on MTH shares. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed 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. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $93.00 price target (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.4%

Meritage Homes stock opened at $73.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 1.36. Meritage Homes has a 52 week low of $58.03 and a 52 week high of $85.38. The business's 50-day moving average price is $74.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 7.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $1,880,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth $9,003,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 1st quarter worth about $6,650,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,053,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 3,031.0% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 92,741 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,122,000 after buying an additional 89,779 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company's core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.

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