Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Trading Up 9.2% – What’s Next?

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)’s stock price traded up 9.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $74.32 and last traded at $74.6350. 617,658 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 703,655 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MTH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Zacks Research cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Meritage Homes from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.63.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 10.5%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.71 and a 200 day moving average of $71.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 1.48.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.32). Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 8.96%.The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Meritage Homes has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.510-1.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 54.9% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 618 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 194.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 23.1% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.