Truist Financial Begins Coverage on Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH)

Equities research analysts at Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 30.97% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on MTH. UBS Group set a $95.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup started coverage on Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Citizens Jmp started coverage on Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.33.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $68.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50-day moving average is $73.40 and its 200 day moving average is $72.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total value of $272,939.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,844.40. This trade represents a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 32,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.49, for a total transaction of $2,510,401.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,917,154.61. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273 in the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter valued at $75,148,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 44.3% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,987,850 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $143,980,000 after buying an additional 609,866 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 58.9% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,423,013 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $95,299,000 after buying an additional 527,265 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth about $37,477,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,000,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $66,970,000 after acquiring an additional 500,000 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.