Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Receives $208.00 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $208.00.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MTH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total transaction of $2,003,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,793.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,136,850. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total transaction of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 10.6% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 95,218 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,707,000 after acquiring an additional 9,128 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth about $1,908,000. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.9% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 79,358 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,924,000 after purchasing an additional 4,435 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.3% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 216,400 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,970,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 204.5% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,378 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,165,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH opened at $191.93 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 1.80. Meritage Homes has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 21.09 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

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.