Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Rating Cut to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Meritage Homes to “Sell” from “Hold,” while overall analyst sentiment remains “Hold,” with four Buy, eight Hold and two Sell ratings and an average price target of $72.78.
• Meritage Homes’ shares opened at $64.39, near their 50-day average of $64.29 and below their 200-day average of $69.02; the stock has traded between $56.66 and $85.38 over the past year.
• The company’s latest quarter fell short of expectations, reporting $1.11 in EPS versus $1.17 expected and $1.18 billion in revenue versus $1.29 billion forecast; revenue declined 17.5% year over year.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

MTH has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zelman & Associates lowered shares of Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $82.00 price target on Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.78.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $64.39 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 1.33. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $56.66 and a 1 year high of $85.38.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.06). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 106.9% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 573 shares of the construction company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 13.0% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 5,950 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 13,372 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a residential construction company that designs and builds single-family homes in the United States. The company primarily serves entry-level and first-time homebuyers, offering homes in a range of floor plans and communities designed around affordability, energy efficiency and modern features.

Meritage Homes sells homes through its own communities and provides related services, including land acquisition and development, home design, construction, sales and customer support.

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