JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Century Communities (NYSE:CCS) to Neutral

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Century Communities (NYSE:CCS) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $97.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $110.00.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Century Communities from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Century Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $119.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of Century Communities in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

Century Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCS opened at $82.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $91.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.88. Century Communities has a twelve month low of $74.76 and a twelve month high of $108.42.

Century Communities (NYSE:CCS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.16. Century Communities had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 7.44%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Century Communities will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

Century Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Century Communities’s payout ratio is currently 10.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CCS. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Century Communities by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 883,197 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $72,122,000 after purchasing an additional 89,310 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Century Communities by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 544,407 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $56,063,000 after buying an additional 49,256 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Century Communities by 3.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 493,480 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,819,000 after buying an additional 16,397 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Century Communities by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 490,758 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,502,000 after buying an additional 51,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Century Communities by 11.8% in the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 435,966 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,896,000 after acquiring an additional 46,104 shares during the period. 99.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Century Communities

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.