Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE:MTH) was downgraded by analysts at TheStreet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday.
In other Meritage Homes Corp. news, Director Peter L. Ax sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.71, for a total transaction of $550,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,651,950. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald W. Haddock sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.11, for a total value of $285,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,730. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Shares of Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE:MTH) traded up 3.44% during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.06. 310,005 shares of the company were exchanged. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion and a P/E ratio of 10.49. Meritage Homes Corp. has a one year low of $25.48 and a one year high of $42.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.50 and a 200 day moving average of $35.77.
Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 28th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.15. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. The company had revenue of $797.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $747.14 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corp. will post $3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MTH. FBR & Co reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes Corp. in a research report on Friday, April 29th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Meritage Homes Corp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 4th. Zelman & Associates cut shares of Meritage Homes Corp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank AG cut shares of Meritage Homes Corp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 2nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group AG reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meritage Homes Corp. in a research report on Tuesday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.94.
A number of hedge funds and institutional investors have modified their holdings of the company. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes Corp. by 494.3% in the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 735,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,808,000 after buying an additional 611,570 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes Corp. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,579,000. Hexavest Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes Corp. by 97.9% in the second quarter. Hexavest Inc. now owns 380,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,288,000 after buying an additional 188,325 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes Corp. by 507.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 187,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,842,000 after buying an additional 156,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes Corp. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,737,000.
Meritage Homes Corporation operates as a holding company. The Company is a designer and builder of single-family detached homes. It operates in two segments: homebuilding and financial services. It offers a range of homes that are designed to offer to a range of homebuyers. It has homebuilding operations in over three regions: West, which includes Arizona, California Central and East; Central region, which includes Texas, and the East region includes Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.