Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Price

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price objective reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $97.00 to $90.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on MTH. UBS Group reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James cut shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE MTH opened at $76.45 on Thursday. Meritage Homes has a 52 week low of $73.05 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.86. The firm has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 1.88.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 10.52 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 11.48%.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth about $387,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth approximately $495,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 16.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,134 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 47.3% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,364 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

About Meritage Homes

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.