Wedbush Reiterates Underperform Rating for Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH)

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reiterated by analysts at Wedbush in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $148.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. Wedbush’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 12.67% from the stock’s previous close.

MTH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.7 %

MTH opened at $169.48 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $159.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $179.68.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 17.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTH. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,156.3% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,201 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 4,787 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 0.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 39,500 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,834,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the third quarter worth about $209,000. Bailard Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 12.5% in the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 2,695 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 25.5% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,948 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares in 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.