Paragon Capital Management Ltd Invests $262,000 in M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC)

Paragon Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,599 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aurora Investment Counsel increased its holdings in M.D.C. by 2.7% in the first quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 34,815 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in M.D.C. by 13.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 154,384 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,001,000 after buying an additional 18,735 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in M.D.C. by 11.7% in the first quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 8,035 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC acquired a new position in M.D.C. in the first quarter worth approximately $346,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in M.D.C. by 6.2% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,107,447 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $43,046,000 after buying an additional 65,137 shares during the last quarter. 88.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Larry A. Mizel sold 1,322,697 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.21, for a total value of $58,476,434.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 115,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,115,627.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other M.D.C. news, Director David E. Blackford sold 2,771 shares of M.D.C. stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total transaction of $133,118.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $948,021.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Larry A. Mizel sold 1,322,697 shares of M.D.C. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.21, for a total value of $58,476,434.37. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 115,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,115,627.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,365,941 shares of company stock valued at $60,647,354 over the last ninety days. 23.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

M.D.C. Stock Performance

Shares of M.D.C. stock traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,444,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 632,028. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.06 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 9.07 and a quick ratio of 3.71. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.04 and a 1-year high of $51.94.

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

M.D.C. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 9th were given a $0.55 dividend. This is a boost from M.D.C.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 8th. M.D.C.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.89%.

M.D.C. Profile

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.