Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 8,589 Shares of Century Communities, Inc. $CCS

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS) by 6.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 124,697 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 8,589 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.42% of Century Communities worth $7,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Century Communities by 6.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,837 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Century Communities by 138.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 71,831 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,820,000 after purchasing an additional 41,653 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Century Communities by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,429 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Century Communities by 1,513.3% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,210 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Century Communities by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 21,096 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026 shares during the last quarter. 99.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CCS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Century Communities from $56.00 to $49.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Century Communities in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup began coverage on Century Communities in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded Century Communities from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Century Communities in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.75.

Century Communities Price Performance

CCS opened at $74.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.58. Century Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.42 and a 12 month high of $76.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.19.

Century Communities (NYSE:CCS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Century Communities had a return on equity of 6.87% and a net margin of 3.58%.The company’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Century Communities, Inc. will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Century Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Century Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Century Communities’s payout ratio is presently 23.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Century Communities

In other news, Chairman Dale Francescon sold 100,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total transaction of $7,251,244.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 561,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,686,795.28. This represents a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.