Meritage Homes (MTH) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) is expected to release its earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, April 23rd. Analysts expect Meritage Homes to post earnings of $1.75 per share and revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter. Investors that wish to listen to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. On average, analysts expect Meritage Homes to post $9 EPS for the current fiscal year and $11 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 3.6 %

NYSE MTH opened at $65.13 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.99. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The stock has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 30,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,238,789.63. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $74.51 per share, with a total value of $819,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 811,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,441,915.92. This trade represents a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

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.