The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Price

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price objective trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $117.50 to $100.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.38.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $78.48 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a PE ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.57. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $73.05 and a 1-year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.15. 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 analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 65.7% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,259 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,539,000 after acquiring an additional 6,843 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 33,489 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,420,000 after purchasing an additional 11,072 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 141.5% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 102,900 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,654,000 after purchasing an additional 60,300 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 32.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,546 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,750,000 after buying an additional 11,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 47.3% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,364 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.