Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Lowered to “C” at TheStreet

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH – Get Rating) was downgraded by equities research analysts at TheStreet from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, TheStreetRatingsTable reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $111.00 to $89.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 13th. Credit Suisse Group began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, April 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush began coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, January 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $120.14.

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $84.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.87. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $75.56 and a one year high of $125.01.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 27th. The construction company reported $5.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $4.80 by $0.99. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 26.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 24.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other Meritage Homes news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton sold 39,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.41, for a total value of $4,005,695.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.31, for a total value of $38,833.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 90,181 shares of company stock worth $9,116,246. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 388 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 103.8% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 597 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 767 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. 94.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Company Profile (Get Rating)

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family 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 first-time and first move-up buyers.

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