Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Trading Down 5.1% – Here’s What Happened

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) shares traded down 5.1% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $168.11 and last traded at $168.36. 191,241 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 406,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush raised Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $205.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $197.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.14.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 5.4 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $187.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.87. The firm has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Meritage Homes’s stock is scheduled to split on the morning of Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, December 31st.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 2.9% during the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 2.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,719 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 1.1% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,126 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 109 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.