Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $156.33, but opened at $151.94. Meritage Homes shares last traded at $152.91, with a volume of 63,368 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush raised Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $197.00 price target (down previously from $220.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Meritage Homes from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.14.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.00 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.45.

Shares of Meritage Homes are going to split on Friday, January 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Monday, November 25th. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, December 31st.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,773,609 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $363,714,000 after purchasing an additional 74,422 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 718,607 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $116,307,000 after buying an additional 17,843 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,035 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $100,286,000 after buying an additional 5,732 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 26.9% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 483,159 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $99,081,000 after buying an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,206,000 after acquiring an additional 148,898 shares during the last quarter. 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.