Zacks Research Forecasts Lower Earnings for Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for Meritage Homes in a report released on Wednesday, May 7th. Zacks Research analyst S. Mukherjee now expects that the construction company will post earnings per share of $2.03 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.46. The consensus estimate for Meritage Homes' current full-year earnings is $9.44 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meritage Homes' Q3 2025 earnings at $2.16 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.30 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.18 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.61 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.09 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.42 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.66 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $8.78 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $10.98 EPS.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.06 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on MTH. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH traded up $0.48 during trading on Monday, reaching $71.33. 917,339 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 880,327. The company's 50-day moving average is $68.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.70. The company has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $59.27 and a 12-month high of $106.99.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 3,925,148 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 93.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,926,900 shares of the construction company's stock worth $207,456,000 after buying an additional 1,417,024 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 94.1% in the first quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company's stock worth $101,668,000 after buying an additional 695,355 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $101,695,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth $76,910,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares in the company, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 595 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.29, for a total transaction of $43,607.55. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock valued at $122,547 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Meritage Homes's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is 14.06%.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.