Evercore ISI Increases Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Price Target to $221.00

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its target price hoisted by analysts at Evercore ISI from $219.00 to $221.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the construction company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target suggests a potential upside of 15.99% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.80.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 6.7 %

MTH opened at $190.54 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $170.24 and its 200-day moving average is $165.11. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $191.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.80.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 20.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. Institutional investors 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.