Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Price Target Lowered to $100.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its target price decreased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $117.50 to $100.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price target (down previously from $205.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.38.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of MTH stock opened at $78.48 on Tuesday. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $73.05 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.87.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.15. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.59%.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 734.4% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 272,122 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $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 Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,029,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,365,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,206,000 after buying an additional 148,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 26.9% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 483,159 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $99,081,000 after buying an additional 102,502 shares during the last quarter. 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.