Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Raised to Hold at Seaport Res Ptn

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) was upgraded by equities researchers at Seaport Res Ptn from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MTH. Raymond James cut shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $77.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 1.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $79.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.04. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $69.26 and a twelve month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In related news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total value of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton bought 11,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,441,915.92. This represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 53.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 545.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 213 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth about $92,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 42.1% in the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 675 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.