There has been recent concerted effort in searching for clean and effective energy conversion materials. Herein we report on a new series of MTe (M = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) compounds with NaCl-like crystal structures that may be potential thermoelectric material and photocatalytically produce H2 materials. Our density-functional theory results for the equilibrium structural parameters are consistent with experimental values and other theoretical data. Electronic calculations show that MTe (M = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) possess characteristic multi-valley band structures. The band gap of MgTe is much smaller than those of MTe (M = Ca, Sr, Ba). Phonon calculations indicate that MTe (M = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) are ionic crystals and dynamically stable. The theoretical lattice thermal conductivity values are also evaluated based on phonon dispersion without using any empirical parameters. Mechanical analysis shows that MTe (M = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) have small bulk moduli and Young's moduli.