Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Given New $72.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America cut its price target on Meritage Homes to $72 (from $74) and maintains a "neutral" rating, implying roughly a 4.3% upside; analyst views remain mixed with an average target of $82.11 and a "Moderate Buy" consensus.
• Meritage beat quarterly EPS estimates with $1.67 per share (vs. $1.55 expected) while revenue fell about 11.9% year‑over‑year; the stock trades near $69 with a market cap around $4.6B and a P/E of ~10.9.
• Insiders sold shares (CEO and CFO reduced holdings in February) even as institutional investors own roughly 98.44% of the company.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Bank of America from $74.00 to $72.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the construction company's stock. Bank of America's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.34% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $95.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a "market outperform" rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.11.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of MTH stock traded up $0.94 during trading on Monday, reaching $69.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 208,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,038. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $68.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.50. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $58.03 and a 1-year high of $84.74.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 260,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,917,154.61. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $834,352.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 124,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,540,772.35. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,901,851 shares of the construction company's stock worth $190,943,000 after buying an additional 16,338 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,987,850 shares of the construction company's stock worth $143,980,000 after buying an additional 609,866 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,465,340 shares of the construction company's stock worth $96,419,000 after buying an additional 12,386 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,423,013 shares of the construction company's stock worth $95,299,000 after buying an additional 527,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company's stock worth $75,051,000 after buying an additional 391,297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.

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