Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) shares reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $59.00 and last traded at $59.0310, with a volume of 655666 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.33.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.63. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.72 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total transaction of $272,939.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,935 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,844.40. This represents a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total value of $2,510,401.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 260,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,917,154.61. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,622 shares of company stock valued at $3,640,273. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 194.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.