Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) Updates Q1 2026 Earnings Guidance

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) updated its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 0.870-1.130 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.530. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group set a $95.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.50.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $69.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 7.73%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.72 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.22%.

Key Meritage Homes News

Here are the key news stories impacting Meritage Homes this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 EPS beat consensus: Meritage reported $1.67 EPS versus estimates of $1.55 and disclosed an adjusted home-closing gross margin (~19.3% excluding one-offs), which shows some operational resilience. GlobeNewswire: Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Several firms maintain buy ratings and above-current price targets (including UBS and others), which could limit downside if execution stabilizes. QuiverQuant: Q4 release & analyst notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call details and presentation posted — useful for drilling into forward commentary, backlog, pricing and cost assumptions but not a direct market mover by itself. Seeking Alpha: Q4 call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 2026 guidance slashed: Management updated Q1 EPS guidance to $0.87–$1.13 versus consensus ~$1.53, a clear downward revision that drove the immediate negative market reaction. Investing.com: Stock tumbles on weak outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue and margin pressure: Q4 revenue came in below estimates (~$1.44B vs. ~$1.51B est) and YoY revenue and profit declines point to continued market softness and margin compression. QuiverQuant: Q4 metrics & revenue miss
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and mixed institutional flows: Recent insider sales were reported and hedge fund position changes have been sizeable, which can increase near-term selling pressure. QuiverQuant: insider & institutional activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation check commentary is circulating as the share price weakens — some see upside to targets if rate/market dynamics improve, others see risks from slowing closings. Yahoo Finance: Valuation check

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its position 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 worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 39,054 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 265.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 402 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 194.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.