Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52, reports. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. Meritage Homes updated its FY24 guidance to $19.20-20.70 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 19.200-20.700 EPS.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE:MTH traded up $4.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $169.48. The company had a trading volume of 593,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,394. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.95. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $179.68. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. 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 1.77%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.