Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group to “Buy” Rating

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $235.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $205.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MTH. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.17.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE MTH opened at $181.20 on Thursday. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $126.46 and a 12 month high of $213.98. The company has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $196.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.86.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.29. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 239,511 shares during the period. Long Pond Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,303,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,495,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,887,000. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $23,106,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.