JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Price

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $89.00 to $70.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the construction company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 1.88% from the stock’s current price.

MTH has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.69.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of MTH stock opened at $68.71 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The company has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.69.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.06 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Chairman Steven J. Hilton acquired 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,074,741 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $626,777,000 after buying an additional 26,889 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.1% in the first quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $101,668,000 after acquiring an additional 695,355 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 710,281 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,345,000 after acquiring an additional 304,427 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $101,695,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 95.9% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 598,694 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $42,435,000 after purchasing an additional 293,089 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.