Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) PT Raised to $197.00

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price objective hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $173.00 to $197.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reaffirmed an underperform rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Raymond James began coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday. They issued an outperform rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $196.83.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $200.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $172.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.52. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $205.20.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 20.31 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $76,297,000. Long Pond Capital LP purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the first quarter valued at $32,303,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at about $25,495,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 1st quarter worth about $23,106,000. Finally, Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 216.7% during the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 190,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,337,000 after purchasing an additional 130,000 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Meritage Homes

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.