Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.73 EPS

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.73), Zacks reports. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,303,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,008,944. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.50. Meritage Homes has a 12-month low of $58.03 and a 12-month high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total value of $272,939.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,844.40. This trade represents a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $834,352.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 124,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,540,772.35. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,622 shares of company stock valued at $3,640,273. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Xponance LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 7,868 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,903 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 5.6% in the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,806 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 23.1% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 0.7% in the third quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 39,054 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,829,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on Meritage Homes and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.11.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.