Bank of America Initiates Coverage on Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH)

by · The Markets Daily

Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH – Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $82.00 price target on the construction company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.72.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MTH

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $68.16 on Monday. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $68.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.43. 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 company has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.50.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.06%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 in the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTH. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 166.5% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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