Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wedbush

Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a strong sell rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James assumed coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday. They set an outperform rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $196.83.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $200.10 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $172.07 and its 200 day moving average is $166.50. The stock has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 1.80. Meritage Homes has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $205.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 9,128 shares during the period. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 33,536 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,842,000 after acquiring an additional 13,538 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth about $3,205,000. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 140.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,482 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,826,000 after acquiring an additional 6,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter worth about $1,908,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.