Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Price Target Lowered to $76.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the construction company’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 4.38% from the stock’s previous close.

MTH has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citizens Jmp started coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.63.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock traded up $2.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $72.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 436,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,052,139. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.84. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $84.74. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 1.48.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 7.73%.The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 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 stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 372 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 54.9% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 618 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single?family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high?performance features aimed at reducing long?term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.