Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 105.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 395,654 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 203,420 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.55% of Meritage Homes worth $28,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 100.0% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 77.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 329.9% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 246.4% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.72.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 2.2%

MTH traded up $1.60 during trading on Thursday, hitting $75.60. The company had a trading volume of 205,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 881,738. The company has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.69 and a 200-day moving average of $71.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.28. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 14.28%. The company's revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.06 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.06%.

Meritage Homes Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.