Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133,860 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 3,747 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.43% of Century Communities worth $9,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Century Communities by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 544,407 shares of the construction company's stock worth $56,063,000 after purchasing an additional 49,256 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Century Communities by 3.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 16,397 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Century Communities by 11.6% during 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. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its position in Century Communities by 11.8% during the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 435,966 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,896,000 after buying an additional 46,104 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Century Communities by 5.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 206,798 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $21,296,000 after buying an additional 10,453 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CCS. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Century Communities in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Century Communities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Century Communities to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Century Communities from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Century Communities Price Performance

CCS stock traded down $1.49 on Monday, reaching $67.94. The company had a trading volume of 568,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,542. The company's fifty day moving average is $74.01 and its 200 day moving average is $86.84. The company has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Century Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.54 and a 1 year high of $108.42.

Century Communities (NYSE:CCS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.16 by $0.33. Century Communities had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 7.59%. On average, research analysts forecast that Century Communities, Inc. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Century Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. This is a positive change from Century Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Century Communities's dividend payout ratio is 11.15%.

Century Communities Company 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.