Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Rating Upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $235.00 target price on the construction company's stock, up from their prior target price of $205.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective suggests a potential upside of 29.69% from the company's previous close.

MTH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Wedbush raised shares of Meritage Homes from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $220.17.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH traded up $3.66 during trading on Thursday, hitting $181.20. 694,036 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 409,820. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $213.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $196.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 1.80.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $5.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.29. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.98 EPS. Meritage Homes's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth about $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.