Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 target price (down from $205.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $102.50 to $117.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.56.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $74.07 on Friday. Meritage Homes has a 52-week low of $73.05 and a 52-week high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.51.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,719 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently 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.