Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $184.48, but opened at $171.30. Meritage Homes shares last traded at $168.62, with a volume of 212,513 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MTH. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Wedbush raised Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.17.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 1.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $196.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.86.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. Meritage Homes’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.75 dividend. 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 1.69%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.