Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Given New $160.00 Price Target at Wedbush

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) had its price objective increased by Wedbush from $148.00 to $160.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the construction company’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective points to a potential downside of 19.80% from the stock’s current price.

MTH has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $220.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $196.83.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 3.3 %

MTH traded up $6.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $199.50. 223,186 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 427,594. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $109.23 and a fifty-two week high of $205.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 1.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.31.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 20.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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