Evercore ISI Increases Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Price Target to $100.00

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has raised the price target for Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) from $97.00 to $100.00, suggesting a potential upside of 43.85% from the current stock price.
• The stock's recent performance shows volatility; it traded down to $69.52 on Friday, with a one-year low of $59.27 and a high of $106.99.
• Meritage Homes reported earnings of $2.04 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates by $0.05 but showing a 4.6% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• Currently, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" with a consensus target price of $95.11, with varying ratings from multiple analysts.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from $97.00 to $100.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the construction company's stock. Evercore ISI's target price would indicate a potential upside of 42.57% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MTH. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America began coverage on Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush lowered their price target on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.78.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Meritage Homes stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.14. 456,482 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 976,539. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 1.37. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $67.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 96.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,999,889 shares of the construction company's stock worth $567,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925,148 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 93.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,926,900 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $207,456,000 after buying an additional 1,417,024 shares during the last quarter. Long Pond Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 592.7% in the first quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 1,125,995 shares of the construction company's stock worth $79,811,000 after buying an additional 963,438 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 278.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,071,802 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $75,969,000 after acquiring an additional 788,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.1% in the 1st quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $101,668,000 after acquiring an additional 695,355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

About Meritage Homes

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.