Meritage Homes Corporation (MTH)

Over the past six months, Meritage Homes Corp. stock has experienced some volatility. As of December 26, 2025, the share price was $66.80, a decline of 12.92% from December 30, 2024. However, as of January 12, 2026, the stock was up 6.91% over the past 30 days and up 0.48% over the past 12 months, with a closing price of $76.01. Key events include the Q3 2025 earnings report, which showed a slight decrease in home closing revenue and diluted EPS. The company announced a quarterly cash dividend increase and enhanced its share repurchase strategy. Meritage Homes celebrated its 40th anniversary and delivered its 200,000th home. The company contributed $4.2 million in donations and funding in 2025 to strengthen communities nationwide. The Q4 2025 earnings conference call was scheduled for January 29, 2026. Analyst sentiment was bearish due to weak single-family housing demand, but the risk-reward on long-term charts looked encouraging.

The demand for Meritage Homes Corp.'s products and services can be influenced by seasonality. The company's Q1 2025 earnings call noted strong sales performance during the spring selling season. Macroeconomic conditions, including volatile and elevated mortgage rates and fragile consumer sentiment, have weakened the demand outlook. Meritage Homes' specialization in entry-level and first move-up homes positions it to maintain demand even when housing prices and interest rates are high. There is a structural housing shortage in the U.S., especially in the affordable segment, which provides an underlying demand for Meritage Homes' products throughout economic cycles.

Meritage Homes Corporation is a publicly traded American real estate development company that designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes, focusing on energy-efficient, entry-level, and first move-up homes in high-growth U.S. Sun Belt markets. It is the fifth-largest public homebuilder in the United States, based on homes closed in 2024. The company operates within the Consumer Cyclical sector and has two principal business segments: homebuilding and financial services. A key differentiator is its commitment to energy efficiency, with 100% of the homes built as of late 2024 being ENERGY STAR® certified.

Meritage Homes operates across 12 states in the U.S., divided into three reportable homebuilding segments: West, Central, and East. The West segment includes Arizona, California, Colorado, and Utah. The Central segment includes Texas. The East segment includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The company is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Meritage Homes has a reputation for its distinctive style, quality construction, and award-winning customer experience. The company is an industry leader in energy-efficient homebuilding, having received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence Award eleven times and the Residential New Construction Market Leader Award. They have also been a four-time recipient of the EPA's Indoor airPLUS Leader Award. The company celebrated its 40th anniversary and delivered its 200,000th home, and contributed $4.2 million in donations and funding in 2025 to strengthen communities nationwide. Despite these positive aspects, recent history has shown mostly negative or flat 24-hour market reactions to generally positive or neutral announcements.

Meritage Homes Corporation's ownership structure is heavily weighted toward institutional investors, who collectively hold the majority of outstanding shares. As of the most recent filings for 2025, institutional investors hold 78.9% of the shares, public/retail investors hold 18.4%, and insiders hold 2.7%. Major institutional owners include BlackRock, Inc., Vanguard Group Inc., and State Street Corp. Steven J. Hilton, the Executive Chairman and co-founder, is a major individual shareholder, owning 8.89 million shares, representing 12.63% of the company.