Acadian Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC)

Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC) by 626.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,864 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,517 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 0.05% of M.D.C. worth $1,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MDC. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in M.D.C. by 239.9% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,074 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in M.D.C. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,880,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in M.D.C. by 2.0% in the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 22,404 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in M.D.C. by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 148,179 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,682,000 after buying an additional 11,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in M.D.C. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.08% of the company’s stock.

M.D.C. Stock Performance

Shares of MDC stock opened at $48.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 3.71 and a current ratio of 9.07. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.04 and a fifty-two week high of $51.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 1.41.

M.D.C. (NYSE:MDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $939.10 million. M.D.C. had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 7.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. Analysts expect that M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

M.D.C. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 8th. This is an increase from M.D.C.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. M.D.C.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MDC. Raymond James upped their target price on M.D.C. from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of M.D.C. in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on M.D.C. from $28.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on M.D.C. in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.17.

Insider Activity at M.D.C.

In related news, Chairman Larry A. Mizel sold 1,322,697 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.21, for a total transaction of $58,476,434.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 115,712 shares in the company, valued at $5,115,627.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Larry A. Mizel sold 1,322,697 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.21, for a total transaction of $58,476,434.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 115,712 shares in the company, valued at $5,115,627.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David E. Blackford sold 2,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total value of $133,118.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $948,021.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,382,941 shares of company stock worth $61,414,904 over the last quarter. 23.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About M.D.C.

M.DC Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the homebuilding and financial service businesses. Its homebuilding operations include purchasing finished lots or developing lots for the construction and sale primarily of single-family detached homes to first-time and first-time move-up homebuyers under the Richmond American Homes name.