Meritage Homes (MTH) Increases Yet Falls Behind Market: What Investors Need to Know

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Meritage Homes (MTH) closed the most recent trading day at $170.09, moving +1.3% from the previous trading session. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.41%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.58%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 2.2%.

Heading into today, shares of the homebuilder had gained 6.57% over the past month, lagging the Construction sector's gain of 7.47% and outpacing the S&P 500's gain of 2.9% in that time.

The upcoming earnings release of Meritage Homes will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on January 31, 2024. On that day, Meritage Homes is projected to report earnings of $5.17 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 27.08%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.52 billion, down 23.54% from the prior-year quarter.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Meritage Homes. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.44% higher. As of now, Meritage Homes holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

From a valuation perspective, Meritage Homes is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 8.62. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 9.54.

The Building Products - Home Builders industry is part of the Construction sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 45, this industry ranks in the top 18% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.

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