Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Sell”

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $104.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Citizens Jmp began coverage on Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.63.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $75.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 1.48. Meritage Homes has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $84.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.45.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.32). The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 8.96%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.34 EPS. Meritage Homes has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.510-1.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MTH. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 82.2% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 21,782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after buying an additional 9,829 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 63,008 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,086 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,477,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 15,424 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,989,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.