Meritage Homes (MTH) Scheduled to Post Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) will be posting its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, April 24th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $3.55 per share for the quarter. Investors interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.18 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. On average, analysts expect Meritage Homes to post $18 EPS for the current fiscal year and $20 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $152.06 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 1.76. Meritage Homes has a 12 month low of $109.23 and a 12 month high of $179.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $159.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.25.

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 $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meritage Homes news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,695 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,821 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 22,553 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,929,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 2,190 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.0% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,329 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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 target on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wedbush downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $155.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.67.

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.