Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Meritage Homes received a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from 13 brokerages, with the average 12-month price target at about $79.89.
• The company’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, posting $0.86 EPS versus $0.98 expected and $1.12 billion in revenue versus $1.55 billion expected, with revenue down 17.5% year over year.
• Meritage Homes also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, or $1.92 annually, implying a 2.9% yield.

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.8889.

MTH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group set a $86.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $79,066.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at $474,147.74. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 163.8% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 401 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 265.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 194.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $65.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $64.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.96. Meritage Homes has a 52-week low of $58.03 and a 52-week high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

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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