Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Century Communities, Inc. $CCS

Key Points

• Diamond Hill Capital Management cut its stake in Century Communities by 71.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 76,928 shares and leaving it with 30,564 shares worth about $1.8 million.
• Several analysts turned more cautious on the stock, with multiple firms downgrading Century Communities and the consensus rating now at "Reduce" with an average price target of $67.
• The company reported Q1 earnings of $0.88 per share, beating estimates, but revenue fell 16.9% year over year to $789.67 million; it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS - Free Report) by 71.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,564 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 76,928 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Century Communities worth $1,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Century Communities by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,064 shares of the construction company's stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Century Communities by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,405 shares of the construction company's stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Century Communities by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 12,515 shares of the construction company's stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Century Communities by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,917 shares of the construction company's stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Century Communities by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,745 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,053,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CCS. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Century Communities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Zacks Research cut shares of Century Communities from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Century Communities from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. B. Riley Financial cut shares of Century Communities from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Century Communities from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $67.00.

Century Communities Price Performance

Shares of Century Communities stock opened at $52.02 on Friday. Century Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.28 and a 52-week high of $76.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $56.66 and a 200-day moving average of $61.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Century Communities (NYSE:CCS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.27. Century Communities had a net margin of 3.31% and a return on equity of 6.24%. The company had revenue of $789.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $961.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Century Communities, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Century Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Century Communities's dividend payout ratio is 28.83%.

Century Communities Company Profile

Century Communities, Inc is a national homebuilder and land developer headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado. The company is engaged in the acquisition, development, construction and sale of single- and multi-family residential homes, offering a range of floor plans and design options to homebuyers. In addition to its core homebuilding activities, Century Communities provides ancillary services such as mortgage financing, title and closing services, and insurance products through its wholly owned subsidiaries, aiming to deliver a comprehensive homebuying experience.

Founded in 2009, Century Communities rapidly expanded through both organic growth and strategic land acquisitions, positioning itself in high-growth markets across the United States.

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