Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 13.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 402,664 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,554 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $29,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 58.9% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,423,013 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $95,299,000 after buying an additional 527,265 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,148,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 58.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $75,051,000 after acquiring an additional 391,297 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,000,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $66,970,000 after acquiring an additional 500,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dendur Capital LP increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 55.5% in the second quarter. Dendur Capital LP now owns 876,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $58,666,000 after purchasing an additional 312,500 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MTH. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group set a $95.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Meritage Homes from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.63.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $75.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.10. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 9.28%. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.3%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.22%.

Meritage Homes 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.