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

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 260,541 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 33,382 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.71% of Meritage Homes worth $45,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,593 shares of the construction company's stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 28,451 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,956,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,663,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the fourth quarter worth about $305,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MTH shares. Wedbush reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $178.25.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.0 %

MTH traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $183.10. The company had a trading volume of 247,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 413,575. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.75. The company's fifty day moving average price is $165.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.19. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $109.23 and a 1 year high of $189.96.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

About Meritage Homes

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.