Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Get Rating) have been assigned an average rating of "Buy" from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $113.20.
A number of research firms recently issued reports on MTH. TheStreet cut Meritage Homes from a "b-" rating to a "c" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 27th. KeyCorp downgraded Meritage Homes from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $114.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 12th. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, January 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $157.00 price target for the company.
Meritage Homes stock opened at $82.86 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $84.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.26. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $75.56 and a 1-year high of $125.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.56.
Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 27th. The construction company reported $5.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.68 by $1.11. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 28.21% and a net margin of 15.40%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.44 EPS. Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 27.52 earnings per share for the current year.
In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 280 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.27, for a total transaction of $25,835.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton sold 39,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.41, for a total value of $4,005,695.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 90,181 shares of company stock valued at $9,116,246. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,185 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth $574,000. Vestcor Inc bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth $2,436,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 230.5% during the 3rd quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 38,433 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,728,000 after buying an additional 26,806 shares during the period. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC increased its position in Meritage Homes by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 5,590 shares of the construction company's stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the period. 97.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Meritage Homes Company Profile (Get Rating)
Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family 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 first-time and first move-up buyers.
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