Wedbush Upgrades Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) to “Neutral”

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wedbush from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $195.00 price target on the construction company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $160.00. Wedbush’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 4.07% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.83.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH stock opened at $203.28 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.11. The company has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48 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. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $109.23 and a fifty-two week high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $512,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,136,850. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $512,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,136,850. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total value of $595,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at $2,837,936.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the 2nd 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 period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter valued at $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter worth $64,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the third 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 16.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.