Meritage Homes (MTH) Scheduled to Post Earnings on Wednesday

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) is scheduled to be issuing its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, April 24th. Analysts expect Meritage Homes to post earnings of $3.55 per share for the quarter. Persons interested in listening to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.03% and a net margin of 12.03%. 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

MTH stock opened at $152.06 on Tuesday. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $179.68. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $158.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.18.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 three months, insiders have sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $148.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.