Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Upgraded to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $235.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $205.00.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MTH. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush raised shares of Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.17.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.1 %

MTH stock opened at $181.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $196.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.86. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $126.46 and a 12 month high of $213.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a PE ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 1.80.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.98 EPS. Meritage Homes’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter worth about $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.