Meritage Homes Stock Set to Split on Friday, January 3rd (NYSE:MTH)

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) shares are set to split before the market opens on Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, December 31st.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $156.10 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $147.77 and a 1 year high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.98 EPS. Meritage Homes’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $197.00 price target (down from $220.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.14.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 65.7% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,259 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,539,000 after acquiring an additional 6,843 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 37,697 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,101,000 after purchasing an additional 5,796 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 33,489 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,420,000 after purchasing an additional 11,072 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 141.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 102,900 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,654,000 after purchasing an additional 60,300 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 32.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,546 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,750,000 after buying an additional 11,558 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.