StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on M.D.C. (NYSE:MDC)

Stock analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of M.D.C. (NYSE:MDC) in a report released on Saturday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the construction company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI cut shares of M.D.C. from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of M.D.C. in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, M.D.C. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.13.

M.D.C. Stock Performance

Shares of MDC stock opened at $62.98 on Friday. M.D.C. has a 12 month low of $36.47 and a 12 month high of $63.00. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 9.76, a quick ratio of 3.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $62.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.63.

M.D.C. (NYSE:MDC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.06. M.D.C. had a net margin of 8.64% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that M.D.C. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other M.D.C. news, Director David E. Blackford sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.69, for a total value of $388,678.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $848,446.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 23.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On M.D.C.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MDC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of M.D.C. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,232,000. WealthPLAN Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of M.D.C. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $992,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of M.D.C. by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 898,855 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $49,662,000 after acquiring an additional 168,214 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of M.D.C. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,300,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp Et Al grew its stake in shares of M.D.C. by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 117,754 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,855,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.08% of the company’s stock.

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.