Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $84.83 and last traded at $84.51, with a volume of 182009 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $83.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on Meritage Homes and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Meritage Homes from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $86.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.89.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.9%

The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.96.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $79,066.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,147.74. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MTH. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 10,627 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 808 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.0% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,223 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Meritage Homes

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.