Analysts Set Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) PT at $180.00

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $180.00.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MTH. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday, February 1st.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,695 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.3% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,380 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,821 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 22,553 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,929,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH opened at $166.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $109.23 and a 1 year high of $179.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.34.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.18 by $0.20. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.03% and a net margin of 12.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 17.72 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

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.