Brokerages Set Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Target Price at $208.00

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $208.00.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $512,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,136,850. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,136,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total transaction of $2,003,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 17,318.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 460,118 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $80,153,000 after buying an additional 10,885 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth $305,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 28,451 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,956,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $203.55 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.64. The stock has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $109.23 and a 12 month high of $210.58.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.99%.

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.