Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $4.10 to $4.60 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.67. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.50 billion to $1.59 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.54 billion.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Meritage Homes stock traded down $4.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $180.45. 1,044,273 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 407,118. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.74. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $109.23 and a fifty-two week high of $213.98. The stock has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.93.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on MTH shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,136,850. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.00% 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.