Zacks Research Forecasts Higher Earnings for Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) – Research analysts at Zacks Research increased their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Meritage Homes in a report issued on Wednesday, September 24th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the construction company will post earnings per share of $7.11 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $7.10. Zacks Research has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meritage Homes’ current full-year earnings is $9.44 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meritage Homes’ Q4 2025 earnings at $1.75 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.89 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.15 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $7.52 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $2.53 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $9.15 EPS.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 10.27%.The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.14.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

NYSE:MTH opened at $71.43 on Friday. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $103.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.14 and a 200-day moving average of $70.26. The firm has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.35.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $556,069.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 221,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,707,813.20. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $70.00 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at $665,840. This represents a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,439 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 136.0% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,901 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,248 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 100.7% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,325 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 15,218 shares in the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 182.0% in the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 1,255 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 151.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,202 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

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.