The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Price

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its target price dropped by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $117.50 to $100.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the construction company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 24.36% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MTH. UBS Group reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.38.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.4 %

MTH stock opened at $80.41 on Tuesday. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $73.05 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The company has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.55.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 286,105 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,009,000 after purchasing an additional 13,983 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,147,000. Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 95.0% in the 4th quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 6,356 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $978,000 after acquiring an additional 3,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 12,002 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,846,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.