Truist Financial Has Lowered Expectations for Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Stock Price

Key Points

• Truist Financial lowered Meritage Homes’ price target from $72 to $65 while maintaining a “hold” rating, implying only 1.58% upside from the stock’s $63.99 price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but averages “Hold,” with four Buy, seven Hold, and two Sell ratings; the consensus price target is $72.78.
• Meritage Homes recently missed quarterly expectations, reporting $1.11 in EPS versus $1.17 expected and $1.18 billion in revenue versus $1.29 billion forecast, while revenue declined 17.5% year over year.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by research analysts at Truist Financial from $72.00 to $65.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "hold" rating on the construction company's stock. Truist Financial's price objective indicates a potential upside of 1.58% from the company's current price.

MTH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zelman & Associates downgraded Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. They set a "sell" rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $82.00 price objective on Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.78.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE MTH traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $63.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 408,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 937,004. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business's 50 day moving average is $64.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.08. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $56.66 and a 12-month high of $85.38. The firm has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.33.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 6.67% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at $12,540,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter valued at $2,207,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the first quarter valued at $916,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,953,000. Finally, D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,014,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a residential construction company that designs and builds single-family homes in the United States. The company primarily serves entry-level and first-time homebuyers, offering homes in a range of floor plans and communities designed around affordability, energy efficiency and modern features.

Meritage Homes sells homes through its own communities and provides related services, including land acquisition and development, home design, construction, sales and customer support.

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