Zacks Research Weighs in on Meritage Homes FY2024 Earnings

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research upped their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Meritage Homes in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst S. Mukherjee now forecasts that the construction company will post earnings of $21.20 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $10.60. The consensus estimate for Meritage Homes' current full-year earnings is $21.27 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meritage Homes' Q4 2024 earnings at $4.49 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $4.48 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $5.91 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $5.83 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $5.78 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $21.99 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $5.08 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.38 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.63 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $6.25 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $24.33 EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on MTH. Raymond James downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $103.00 price target (down previously from $205.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.56.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH traded down $2.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $74.07. 783,565 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,098,827. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $73.05 and a one year high of $106.99. The stock's fifty day moving average is $89.53 and its 200 day moving average is $92.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.82.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.58 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The business's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MTH. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 53.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 172 shares of the construction company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the construction company's stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,719 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $558,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,126 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is presently 13.58%.

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.