Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore set a $65.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Zelman & Associates downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.44.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $68.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $56.66 and a fifty-two week high of $85.38. The firm has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $64.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.97.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 6.67%. The business’s revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Essential Partners LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 163.8% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 401 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 106.9% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 573 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 43.9% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 774 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 767.6% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 616 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation is a residential construction company that designs and builds single-family homes in the United States. The company primarily serves entry-level and first-time homebuyers, offering homes in a range of floor plans and communities designed around affordability, energy efficiency and modern features.

Meritage Homes sells homes through its own communities and provides related services, including land acquisition and development, home design, construction, sales and customer support.