Q4 2024 EPS Estimates for Meritage Homes Co. Cut by Analyst (NYSE:MTH)

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) – Analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q4 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Meritage Homes in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, October 1st. Zacks Research analyst S. Mukherjee now anticipates that the construction company will post earnings of $4.48 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $4.49. The consensus estimate for Meritage Homes’ current full-year earnings is $21.09 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meritage Homes’ Q1 2025 earnings at $4.73 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $5.38 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $5.11 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $5.92 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on MTH. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $202.32 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $194.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.98. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. Meritage Homes’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.02 EPS.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total value of $595,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total value of $595,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,136,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,842 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, DMC Group LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 2,421 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.