Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Receives Neutral Rating from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued their neutral rating on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $197.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $220.00.

MTH has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.14.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 5.1 %

Meritage Homes stock opened at $168.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.02. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $147.77 and a fifty-two week high of $213.98.

Shares of Meritage Homes are scheduled to split on Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly issued shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, December 31st.

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

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth $64,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.