Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Receives $79.25 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.25.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Zelman & Associates downgraded Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective (up from $82.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Meritage Homes from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $73.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a P/E/G ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meritage Homes has a 1 year low of $58.03 and a 1 year high of $85.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.34.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.12. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 7.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 5.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

Trending Headlines about Meritage Homes

Here are the key news stories impacting Meritage Homes this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised its Q1 2027 EPS estimate to $1.03 from $0.96, suggesting some expected improvement in that quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: The current full-year consensus EPS estimate is approximately $5.04, while Zacks forecasts FY2026 EPS of $5.01, FY2027 EPS of $5.88 and FY2028 EPS of $7.01.
• Negative Sentiment: Nearer-term estimates were reduced: Q3 2026 EPS fell to $1.25 from $1.41, Q4 2026 EPS to $1.48 from $1.57, and FY2026 EPS to $5.01 from $5.17.
• Negative Sentiment: Several longer-term forecasts were also cut, including FY2027 EPS to $5.88 from $6.10 and FY2028 EPS to $7.01 from $7.36. Zacks lowered Q3 2027 EPS particularly sharply, to $1.48 from $1.72, as well as Q1 and Q2 2028 EPS to $1.12 and $1.89, respectively.
• Negative Sentiment: The revisions indicate analysts now expect weaker profitability than previously projected, which is likely weighing on Read More.. The cautious outlook comes after Meritage’s latest quarterly revenue declined 14.1% year over year, despite an earnings beat.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,901,851 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $190,943,000 after purchasing an additional 16,338 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 58.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,423,013 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $95,299,000 after buying an additional 527,265 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $75,051,000 after buying an additional 391,297 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,053,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 855,679 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $56,304,000 after acquiring an additional 61,342 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.