Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Wedbush

Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a strong sell rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on MTH. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an outperform rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $196.83.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of MTH stock opened at $200.17 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 1.80. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $109.23 and a 12-month high of $205.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $172.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.52.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. Meritage Homes’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.02 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 20.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.