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

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) are scheduled to split on Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, December 31st.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $154.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.29. 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 twelve month low of $147.77 and a twelve month high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on MTH shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.14.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MTH. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 734.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 272,122 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,804,000 after acquiring an additional 239,511 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,029,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,365,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,206,000 after acquiring an additional 148,898 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter worth about $22,887,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.