Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $72.60 and last traded at $73.05, with a volume of 22998 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MTH. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.3 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.05. The company has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. On average, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 10.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.47%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,238,789.63. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $207,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 47.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,364 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 31.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,113 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 3,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOS Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 25.1% during the third quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 4,874 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 979 shares during the period. 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.