Raymond James Begins Coverage on Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH)

Raymond James began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $220.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. Raymond James’ target price suggests a potential upside of 13.90% from the company’s previous close.

MTH has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.33.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $193.16 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $205.20. The company has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 1.80.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 20.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MTH. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,732,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $144,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 628 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter worth $213,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 2,073 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.