Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an underperform rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH opened at $169.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.82. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $179.68.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 19.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.99%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 157.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.