Empirical Finance LLC Buys Shares of 11,726 Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS)

Key Points

• Empirical Finance LLC acquired a new position in Century Communities, Inc. worth approximately $787,000, buying 11,726 shares during the first quarter.
• Insider transactions indicate increased confidence, with Director Elisa Z. Ramirez purchasing 500 shares valued at $27,340, raising her stake by 5.90%.
• Century Communities reported earnings of $1.37 EPS, surpassing analysts' expectations, despite a 1.7% year-over-year decline in quarterly revenue.

Empirical Finance LLC acquired a new stake in Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 11,726 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $787,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CCS. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Century Communities by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 58,059 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,259,000 after buying an additional 2,951 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Century Communities in the fourth quarter worth $425,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Century Communities by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,574 shares of the construction company's stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Century Communities by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,971,664 shares of the construction company's stock worth $144,641,000 after purchasing an additional 5,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Century Communities by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 253,969 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $18,631,000 after acquiring an additional 47,171 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.54% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Elisa Z. Ramirez bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $54.68 per share, for a total transaction of $27,340.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $491,081.08. This trade represents a 5.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Century Communities in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Century Communities from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Century Communities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $85.00.

Century Communities Trading Up 0.7%

CCS stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Thursday, hitting $56.89. The company had a trading volume of 110,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 442,735. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.04. Century Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.42 and a 52-week high of $108.42.

Century Communities (NYSE:CCS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $910.70 million. Century Communities had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Century Communities, Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Century Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 28th. Century Communities's payout ratio is 14.16%.

Century Communities Profile

Century Communities, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, construction, marketing, and sale of single-family attached and detached homes. It is also involved in the entitlement and development of the underlying land; and provision of mortgage, title, and insurance services to its homebuyers.