Bank of America Begins Coverage on Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH)

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price target on the construction company's stock. Bank of America's price target indicates a potential upside of 20.31% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $68.16. 1,440,704 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 879,948. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.06 EPS. Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. This represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 over the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,074,741 shares of the construction company's stock worth $626,777,000 after acquiring an additional 26,889 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.1% during the 1st quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $101,668,000 after buying an additional 695,355 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 710,281 shares of the construction company's stock worth $50,345,000 after purchasing an additional 304,427 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,695,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 95.9% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 598,694 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $42,435,000 after acquiring an additional 293,089 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Meritage Homes

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.