Citigroup Inc. Grows Position in M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC)

Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC) by 9.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,524 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,667 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.10% of M.D.C. worth $2,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of M.D.C. by 665.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of M.D.C. by 86.2% during the 1st quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,311 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of M.D.C. by 239.9% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of M.D.C. in the first quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of M.D.C. by 621.2% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,344 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. 88.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush boosted their price objective on M.D.C. from $28.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Seaport Res Ptn restated a “neutral” rating on shares of M.D.C. in a report on Wednesday, June 14th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of M.D.C. from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of M.D.C. in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.17.

M.D.C. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MDC opened at $48.15 on Tuesday. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.04 and a 12 month high of $51.94. The company has a current ratio of 9.07, a quick ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.89 and a 200 day moving average of $42.67.

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

M.D.C. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th were given 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 (DPR) is 40.89%.

Insider Transactions at M.D.C.

In other M.D.C. news, CFO Robert Nathaniel Martin sold 19,839 shares of M.D.C. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total transaction of $990,759.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 299,962 shares in the company, valued at $14,980,102.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael A. Berman sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.15, for a total transaction of $767,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $997,137.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert Nathaniel Martin sold 19,839 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total value of $990,759.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 299,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,980,102.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,382,941 shares of company stock valued at $61,414,904. 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.