Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Given New $118.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price objective trimmed by UBS Group from $126.00 to $118.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on MTH. StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price target (down from $205.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.56.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $76.12 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $73.05 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.87. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.63.

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

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 9.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 244,776 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,196,000 after purchasing an additional 21,092 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at about $16,056,000. Castellan Group raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.0% in the third quarter. Castellan Group now owns 31,981 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,558,000 after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at about $435,000. 98.44% of the stock is 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.