Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Meritage Homes has a consensus analyst rating of Hold from 13 research firms, with an average 12-month price target of about $79.89.
• The company recently reported mixed quarterly results, missing estimates on both earnings and revenue; EPS came in at $0.86 versus $0.98 expected, while revenue fell 17.5% year over year to $1.12 billion.
• Meritage Homes also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, implying an annualized yield of 2.6%, while insider and institutional activity showed a recent insider share sale and continued heavy institutional ownership.

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.8889.

MTH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group set a $86.00 price objective on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. 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 note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total value of $79,066.03. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474,147.74. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.0% during the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,223 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 163.8% during the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 401 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Lodge Hill Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 17.5% during the first quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 235,000 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $14,532,000 after acquiring an additional 35,000 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 54.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 18,247 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 6,456 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 25.1% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 83,892 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,188,000 after acquiring an additional 16,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.1%

MTH opened at $74.92 on Tuesday. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $58.03 and a twelve month high of $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.39. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $67.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.98. 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 (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is currently 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.