Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $65.24, but opened at $69.47. Meritage Homes shares last traded at $69.0050, with a volume of 150,262 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.89.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 0.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The company’s revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total value of $79,066.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,147.74. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter worth $4,731,000. Lodge Hill Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter worth $21,729,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 13.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 402,664 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,165,000 after buying an additional 46,554 shares during the period. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $1,880,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 84.2% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 107,394 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,779,000 after buying an additional 49,101 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.