Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.17 EPS

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17, Zacks reports. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.63%.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 2.5 %

MTH stock opened at $78.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.87. Meritage Homes has a 52 week low of $73.05 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Meritage Homes Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MTH shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James lowered Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Meritage Homes from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.38.

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.