Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $104.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Meritage Homes from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.63.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $75.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $68.91 and its 200-day moving average is $71.56.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 3.3% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,749 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.5% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,658 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 54.9% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 618 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,806 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.