Meritage Homes Corporation Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.48 (NYSE:MTH)

Key Points

• Meritage Homes declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, payable September 30 to shareholders of record September 15. The dividend represents $1.92 annually and a 2.7% yield.
• The dividend appears well covered, with a current payout ratio of 21%; analysts expect next year’s earnings to support an estimated 32.5% payout ratio.
• Meritage Homes exceeded quarterly EPS expectations at $1.42 versus $1.30, although revenue fell 14.1% year over year. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $79.25.

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of 0.48 per share by the construction company on Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th.

Meritage Homes has a dividend payout ratio of 21.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Meritage Homes to earn $5.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.5%.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $71.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.17 and a 200-day moving average of $70.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Meritage Homes has a 52 week low of $58.03 and a 52 week high of $85.38.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 6.11%.The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 5.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on MTH shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Meritage Homes from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.25.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company's core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.

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