Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Shares Up 6.1% Following Dividend Announcement

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) shares shot up 6.1% during trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $70.12 and last traded at $69.6540. 378,977 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 954,975 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.68.The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 17th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

• Time to Load Up on Home Builders?

MTH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $101.00 price target on Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $84.71.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MTH

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

• Small-cap surge: Outpacing large caps on hopes for '24 rate cuts

The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.46.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.32). The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.34 earnings per share. Meritage Homes has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.510-1.700 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meritage Homes

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 11.4% during the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.3% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,749 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 2.5% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,658 shares of the construction company's stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 54.9% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 618 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 5.6% in the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,806 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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