Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) PT Raised to $160.00 at Wedbush

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price target lifted by analysts at Wedbush from $148.00 to $160.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underperform” rating on the construction company’s stock. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential downside of 19.80% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MTH. Raymond James started coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $196.83.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE MTH traded up $6.34 on Friday, reaching $199.50. 223,186 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 427,594. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.31. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $109.23 and a 12 month high of $205.20. The company has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 18.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 20.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 523,332 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $91,164,000 after buying an additional 26,682 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 490,660 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $86,091,000 after purchasing an additional 58,350 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 460,118 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $80,153,000 after purchasing an additional 10,885 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,297,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 260,541 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,386,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.