Zacks Research Predicts Stronger Earnings for Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) – Zacks Research upped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Meritage Homes in a report issued 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 estimate 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.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.15. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

MTH has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 price objective (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price objective (down from $205.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $102.50 to $117.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.56.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 2.8 %

Meritage Homes stock opened at $74.07 on Friday. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $73.05 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.82.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.9% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 2.5% in the third 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 increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 1.1% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,126 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.58%.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.