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

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 402,664 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,554 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Meritage Homes worth $29,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 527,265 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter worth about $75,148,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% during 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 grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 312,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.6%

MTH stock opened at $75.95 on Friday. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $84.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.95.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.12. The business 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%. The business’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.72 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 27.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup began coverage on Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Evercore set a $77.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.63.

About Meritage Homes

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.