Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $178.25.

MTH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 26th.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $181.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 288,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 418,777. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $183.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 1.75. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $162.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.54.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 20.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blair William & Co. IL bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,898 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,210,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter worth $1,007,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 95,218 shares of the construction company's stock worth $16,707,000 after buying an additional 9,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,347 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,289,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during 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, 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.