Brokers Set Expectations for Meritage Homes FY2024 Earnings

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) – Zacks Research boosted their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Meritage Homes in a research report issued on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst S. Mukherjee now expects that the construction company will post earnings per share of $21.20 for the year, up from their previous 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.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on MTH. UBS Group cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 shares of Meritage Homes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.56.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $76.12 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $89.53 and a 200 day moving average of $92.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.82. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $73.05 and a one year high of $106.99.

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

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 244,776 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,196,000 after purchasing an additional 21,092 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at $16,056,000. Castellan Group increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.0% in the third quarter. Castellan Group now owns 31,981 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the third quarter worth $230,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at $435,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio 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.