Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Meritage Homes Corporation has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from ten analysts, with a predicted price target of $87.71.
• Recent trading activity includes CEO Phillippe Lord selling 6,950 shares at $80.01 each, while Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares at $66.16.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.04, exceeding expectations, but showing a 4.6% decline in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.7143.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $556,069.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 221,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,707,813.20. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.5% during the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,566 shares of the construction company's stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.8% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,439 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 41.7% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.5% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,658 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $77.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.52 and a 200-day moving average of $69.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 10.27%.Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.47%.

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.

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