Meritage Homes Co. Forecasted to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $3.51 Per Share (NYSE:MTH)

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Meritage Homes in a report released on Wednesday, April 10th. Zacks Research analyst S. Mukherjee now anticipates that the construction company will post earnings of $3.51 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $3.50. The consensus estimate for Meritage Homes' current full-year earnings is $17.76 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meritage Homes' Q2 2024 earnings at $4.16 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $4.04 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $4.51 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $4.32 EPS.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.03% and a net margin of 12.03%.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush downgraded Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.4 %

Meritage Homes stock traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $159.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 246,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,656. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.24 and a 200-day moving average of $150.41. The stock has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $179.68.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares of the company's stock, valued at $132,618.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

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.