Wall Street Zen Upgrades Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) to Hold

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

MTH has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group set a $86.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.00.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of MTH opened at $72.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.85 and a 200 day moving average of $70.42. Meritage Homes has a 52-week low of $58.03 and a 52-week high of $85.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of Meritage Homes 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,634 shares in the company, valued at $474,147.74. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth $1,880,000. Bayhunt Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth $7,922,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 581,200 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $38,243,000 after buying an additional 63,770 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth $9,003,000. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 305,475 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $20,100,000 after buying an additional 44,975 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.