Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Given New $72.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at Bank of America from $74.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the construction company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 4.34% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on MTH. Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.11.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH stock traded up $0.94 on Monday, hitting $69.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 208,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,038. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $68.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.50. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $58.03 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The stock has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.72 EPS. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $834,352.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 124,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,540,772.35. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total transaction of $2,510,401.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 260,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,917,154.61. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth $63,053,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Meritage Homes by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,987,850 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,980,000 after buying an additional 609,866 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,423,013 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $95,299,000 after buying an additional 527,265 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter worth $37,477,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Meritage Homes by 58.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $75,051,000 after buying an additional 391,297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.