Wall Street Zen Downgrades Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) 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 note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on MTH. UBS Group set a $86.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.89.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MTH stock opened at $75.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $67.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.99. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $58.03 and a twelve month high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 6.86%.The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $79,066.03. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,147.74. This represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 10,627 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,559 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 808 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.0% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,223 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.