Lyon William Homes (NYSE: WLH) and Century Communities (NYSE:CCS) are both small-cap construction companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitabiliy, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares Lyon William Homes and Century Communities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Lyon William Homes | 2.90% | 7.35% | 2.68% |
| Century Communities | 4.85% | 10.91% | 5.03% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Lyon William Homes and Century Communities’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Lyon William Homes | $1.40 billion | 0.53 | $88.95 million | $1.05 | 21.92 |
| Century Communities | $1.04 billion | 0.55 | $76.56 million | $2.36 | 10.93 |
Lyon William Homes has higher revenue and earnings than Century Communities. Century Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lyon William Homes, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Lyon William Homes has a beta of 1.79, meaning that its share price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Century Communities has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Lyon William Homes and Century Communities, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Lyon William Homes | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
| Century Communities | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
Lyon William Homes currently has a consensus target price of $23.75, indicating a potential upside of 3.17%. Century Communities has a consensus target price of $26.67, indicating a potential upside of 3.36%. Given Century Communities’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Century Communities is more favorable than Lyon William Homes.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
65.2% of Century Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.3% of Lyon William Homes shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.2% of Century Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Century Communities beats Lyon William Homes on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
Lyon William Homes Company Profile
William Lyon Homes is primarily engaged in the design, construction and sale of single family detached and attached homes in California, Arizona and Nevada. The Company conducts its homebuilding operations through four reportable operating segments: Southern California, Northern California, Arizona and Nevada. For the three months ended March 31, 2012, 37% of home closings were derived from the Company’s California operations. The Company designs, constructs and sells a range of homes designed to meet the needs of each of its markets, although it primarily focuses sales to the entry-level and first time move-up home buyer markets. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company marketed its homes through 19 sales locations. In October 2013, the Company purchase 221 homesites at the master-planned Southshore community in Aurora, Colorado.
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