Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Monday. The stock traded as low as $58.03 and last traded at $58.20, with a volume of 630 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $65.00 target price on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $82.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial set a $72.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.56.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 6.11%. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 4.94 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 40.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth about $112,498,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $68,873,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 16.3% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 675,770 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,790,000 after purchasing an additional 94,570 shares during the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 16.1% during the first quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 471,614 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,165,000 after purchasing an additional 65,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 267.8% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 356,121 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,861,000 after purchasing an additional 259,291 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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 move-up buyers, offering homes in a range of floor plans, sizes and price points. Its communities typically feature energy-efficient designs and include standard features intended to improve home performance, comfort and affordability.

Meritage Homes develops communities in selected markets across the South, Southeast and West, including areas of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.