Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Coverage Initiated at Bank of America

Analysts at Bank of America started coverage on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price target on the construction company's stock. Bank of America's price objective indicates a potential upside of 20.20% from the stock's current price.

MTH has been the subject of several other reports. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Meritage Homes stock traded down $0.97 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $68.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 460,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,012. The company has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.50. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $68.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.08. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 96.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,999,889 shares of the construction company's stock worth $567,032,000 after buying an additional 3,925,148 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 695,355 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth $101,695,000. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth about $76,910,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 102.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 985,239 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $69,834,000 after purchasing an additional 499,063 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.