Critical Contrast: Smith Douglas Homes (NYSE:SDHC) & Century Communities (NYSE:CCS)

Smith Douglas Homes (NYSE:SDHC) and Century Communities (NYSE:CCS) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.5% of Century Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. 84.2% of Smith Douglas Homes shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.7% of Century Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Smith Douglas Homes has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Century Communities has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Smith Douglas Homes and Century Communities”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smith Douglas Homes	$971.12 million	0.51	$10.69 million	$0.72	13.61
Century Communities	$4.12 billion	0.39	$147.60 million	$3.75	15.02

Century Communities has higher revenue and earnings than Smith Douglas Homes. Smith Douglas Homes is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Century Communities, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Smith Douglas Homes and Century Communities, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smith Douglas Homes	1	7	1	0	2.00
Century Communities	3	2	2	0	1.86

Smith Douglas Homes currently has a consensus target price of $11.38, suggesting a potential upside of 16.07%. Century Communities has a consensus target price of $63.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.87%. Given Smith Douglas Homes’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Smith Douglas Homes is more favorable than Century Communities.

Profitability

This table compares Smith Douglas Homes and Century Communities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smith Douglas Homes	0.64%	-0.19%	-0.14%
Century Communities	2.86%	5.41%	3.01%

Summary

Century Communities beats Smith Douglas Homes on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Smith Douglas Homes

Smith Douglas Homes Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, construction, and sale of single-family homes in the southeastern United States. It also provides closing, escrow, and title insurance services. The company sells its products to entry-level and empty-nest homebuyers. Smith Douglas Homes Corp. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Woodstock, Georgia.

About Century Communities

Century Communities, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, construction, marketing, and sale of single-family attached and detached homes. It is also involved in the entitlement and development of the underlying land; and provision of mortgage, title, and insurance services to its homebuyers. The company offers homes under the Century Communities and Century Complete brands. It sells homes through its sales representatives, retail studios, and internet, as well as through independent real estate brokers in 18 states in the United States. Century Communities, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.