FY2025 EPS Estimates for Meritage Homes Increased by Analyst

Key Points

• Analysts at Zacks Research have increased their FY2025 earnings per share estimate for Meritage Homes from $7.10 to $7.11, while maintaining a "Hold" rating on the stock.
• Meritage Homes declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 15.47%.
• Institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Meritage Homes, with Vanguard Group boosting its position by 96.3% in the first quarter alone.

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Zacks Research upped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Meritage Homes in a research note issued on Wednesday, September 24th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the construction company will post earnings of $7.11 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $7.10. Zacks Research currently has a "Hold" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meritage Homes' current full-year earnings is $9.44 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meritage Homes' Q4 2025 earnings at $1.75 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.89 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.15 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $7.52 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $2.53 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $9.15 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MTH. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.14.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH stock opened at $71.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock's 50 day moving average is $75.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.26. The company has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.35. Meritage Homes has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $103.76.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 10.27%.The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.15 EPS. Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $70.00 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $665,840. The trade was a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $556,069.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 221,320 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,707,813.20. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 96.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,999,889 shares of the construction company's stock worth $567,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925,148 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Meritage Homes by 93.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,926,900 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $207,456,000 after buying an additional 1,417,024 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,491,955 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $99,916,000 after buying an additional 57,587 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 58.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,423,013 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $95,299,000 after buying an additional 527,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 95.7% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,352,648 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $95,876,000 after buying an additional 661,310 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by 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.

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