Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $19.20-20.70 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $17.84. The company issued revenue guidance of $6.0-6.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $6.07 billion. Meritage Homes also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 19.200-20.700 EPS.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH traded up $3.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $168.97. 372,168 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 406,076. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.58. Meritage Homes has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $179.68. The firm has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 1.77.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meritage Homes will post 17.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MTH. Wedbush reissued an underperform rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn cut Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $172.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.