Traders Buy High Volume of Meritage Homes Call Options (NYSE:MTH)

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 2,714 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 833% compared to the average volume of 291 call options.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 23.1% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. Zacks Research cut Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.63.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 10.5%

MTH stock opened at $75.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $84.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $68.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 1.48.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. Research analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

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

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.