Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Raised to “Neutral” at Wedbush

Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $195.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $160.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised Meritage Homes from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $213.83.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.4 %

Meritage Homes stock opened at $197.50 on Tuesday. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $213.98. The stock has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 1.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $194.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 21.09 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

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

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth about $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth about $64,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.