Meritage Homes Q2 Profit Increases, Projects FY16 In Line With Estimates

(RTTNews) - Meritage Homes Corp. (MTH) Thursday announced second quarter net earnings of $39.9 million or $0.95 per share compared to prior year net earnings of $29.1 million or $0.70 per share last year. The company said the results primarily reflects higher home closing revenues and greater overhead operating leverage.

On average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.8 per share. Analysts estimates usually exclude special items.

Total closing revenue was $797.89 million, up from $597.80 million in the previous year. Wall Street expects 4751.3 million.

For the third quarter the company expects earnings per share of $0.80-0.85, while the analysts project $1.02 per share. For the full year, the company sees earnings of $3.55-3.85 per share and Street projection is $3.61 per share.

The company reiterated projections for 2016 full year orders, closings, revenue and earnings per share. For the third quarter, the company expects 1,600-1,800 orders, 7,350-7,550 orders for the year. Third quarter home closing revenue is expected to be $740-760 million, and 7,300-7,600 closings for revenue of $2.9-3.1 billion for the year.