Analysts Offer Predictions for Meritage Homes Co.’s Q1 2024 Earnings (NYSE:MTH)

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Meritage Homes in a research report issued on Wednesday, April 10th. Zacks Research analyst S. Mukherjee now anticipates that the construction company will earn $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) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.20. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MTH. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $148.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $159.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $159.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.41. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $179.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 1.77.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTH. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 137.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 12,550 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $994,000 after acquiring an additional 7,266 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,740 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $464,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,632 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 49.3% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 19,463 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 6,431 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.