Meritage Homes’ (MTH) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,RTT News reports. Wedbush currently has a $103.00 target price on the construction company’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Meritage Homes’ Q1 2025 earnings at $1.75 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.05 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.56 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.21 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $9.56 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.84 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.30 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.70 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.76 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.60 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MTH. UBS Group dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $98.50 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.25.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH opened at $76.45 on Tuesday. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $73.05 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.25 and a 200 day moving average of $91.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 1.88.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. On average, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 10.52 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 11.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 65.7% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,259 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,539,000 after acquiring an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 32.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,546 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,750,000 after purchasing an additional 11,558 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 47.3% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,364 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 125.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 509 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

About Meritage Homes

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.