Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Price

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $90.00 to $77.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the construction company’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target points to a potential upside of 15.06% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.25.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $66.92 on Monday. 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 has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $106.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.70 and a 200-day moving average of $80.64.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its 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 the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.06 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. This trade represents a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 approximately $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $101,668,000 after purchasing an additional 695,355 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $101,695,000. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at $76,910,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 710,281 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,345,000 after buying an additional 304,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 2,199.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 305,605 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,008,000 after acquiring an additional 292,317 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.