Aviva PLC Makes New Investment in M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC)

Aviva PLC acquired a new stake in M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 31,778 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in M.D.C. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,721,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of M.D.C. by 5.4% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,068 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $131,813,000 after buying an additional 247,697 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in M.D.C. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,670,000. River Road Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of M.D.C. during the third quarter worth $4,391,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of M.D.C. by 69.5% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 371,508 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $14,057,000 after acquiring an additional 152,388 shares in the last quarter. 82.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on MDC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of M.D.C. from $30.50 to $27.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of M.D.C. in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of M.D.C. in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.50.

Insider Transactions at M.D.C.

In other M.D.C. news, Director David E. Blackford sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total value of $165,015.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,587 shares in the company, valued at $754,925.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other M.D.C. news, Director David E. Blackford sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.67, for a total transaction of $165,015.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $754,925.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Herbert T. Buchwald sold 8,349 shares of M.D.C. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.20, for a total value of $302,233.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 337,609 shares of company stock valued at $13,923,750 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

M.D.C. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MDC opened at $42.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.30 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.04. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.04 and a 52-week high of $43.66. The company has a quick ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 9.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

M.D.C. (NYSE:MDC – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The construction company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.64. M.D.C. had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $887.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. M.D.C.’s revenue was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

M.D.C. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 9th. M.D.C.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.72%.

M.D.C. Profile

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M.DC Holdings, Inc engages in proving homebuilding and financial services. It operates through the following business segments: West, Mountain, and East. The West segment includes operations in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. The Mountain segment refers to the operations in Colorado, Idaho, and Utah.