Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $82.00 price target on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.78.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $64.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.02. Meritage Homes has a 52-week low of $56.66 and a 52-week high of $85.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at approximately $112,498,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth $68,873,000. SummitTX Capital L.P. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 16.1% during the first quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 471,614 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,165,000 after acquiring an additional 65,540 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 267.8% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 356,121 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,861,000 after purchasing an additional 259,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lodge Hill Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 235,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $14,532,000 after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation is a residential construction company that designs and builds single-family homes in the United States. The company primarily serves entry-level and first-time homebuyers, offering homes in a range of floor plans and communities designed around affordability, energy efficiency and modern features.

Meritage Homes sells homes through its own communities and provides related services, including land acquisition and development, home design, construction, sales and customer support.