Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Price Target Lowered at UBS Group

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price target decreased by UBS Group from $88.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

MTH has been the subject of several other reports. Zelman & Associates cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.44.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $64.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 1.33. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $56.66 and a one year high of $85.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.29 and a 200 day moving average of $69.02.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth $112,498,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth about $68,873,000. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 267.8% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 356,121 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,861,000 after purchasing an additional 259,291 shares during the period. SummitTX Capital L.P. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 471,614 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,165,000 after purchasing an additional 65,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas FRM LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at about $18,447,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a residential construction company that designs and builds single-family homes in the United States. The company primarily serves entry-level and first-time homebuyers, offering homes in a range of floor plans and communities designed around affordability, energy efficiency and modern features.

Meritage Homes sells homes through its own communities and provides related services, including land acquisition and development, home design, construction, sales and customer support.