Wall Street Zen Downgrades Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) to Sell

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on MTH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Bank of America cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.71.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $66.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $72.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.59. Meritage Homes has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $98.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.32). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Meritage Homes has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.510-1.700 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $556,069.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 221,320 shares in the company, valued at $17,707,813.20. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MTH. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter worth $575,000. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 10.1% during the third quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 9,800 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 25.6% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,668 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at about $18,949,000. Finally, Lodge Hill Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter worth about $21,729,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.