Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $102.50 to $117.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 target price (down from $205.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James cut Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 price objective (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.56.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 2.8 %

NYSE:MTH opened at $74.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.87. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $73.05 and a one year high of $106.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.61.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 734.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 272,122 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,804,000 after acquiring an additional 239,511 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the third quarter worth approximately $44,029,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,365,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,206,000 after purchasing an additional 148,898 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 483,159 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $99,081,000 after buying an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

About Meritage Homes

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.