Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $84.5714.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. UBS Group set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 3.0%

MTH opened at $72.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 1.44. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $93.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $69.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.75.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 8.96%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.34 earnings per share. Meritage Homes has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.510-1.700 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 157.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,058 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,158 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 117.2% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 22,293 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after purchasing an additional 12,028 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 94.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 8,844 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 102.1% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 17,363 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 8,772 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 119.0% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 24,805 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after buying an additional 13,479 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.