Wedbush Reiterates Neutral Rating for Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH)

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued on Tuesday,RTT News reports. They presently have a $103.00 target price on the construction company's stock, down from their prior target price of $205.00. Wedbush's target price indicates a potential upside of 38.22% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $102.50 to $117.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $98.50 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.36.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH stock traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $74.52. 944,151 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,203,788. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $73.89 and a 1 year high of $106.99. The company has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.87. The company's 50 day moving average is $90.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.78.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.15. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 21.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in 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 last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,029,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the third quarter worth $36,365,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 75.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company's stock worth $71,206,000 after acquiring an additional 148,898 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 26.9% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 483,159 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $99,081,000 after acquiring an additional 102,502 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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