Bellway (OTCMKTS:BLWYF) & M.D.C. (NYSE:MDC) Head-To-Head Survey

M.D.C. (NYSE:MDC) and Bellway (OTCMKTS:BLWYF) are both consumer cyclical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for M.D.C. and Bellway, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
M.D.C.	1	4	0	0	1.80
Bellway	0	1	1	0	2.50

M.D.C. presently has a consensus price target of $52.13, suggesting a potential downside of 17.24%. Given M.D.C.’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe M.D.C. is more favorable than Bellway.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares M.D.C. and Bellway’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
M.D.C.	$4.64 billion	1.02	$401.01 million	$5.28	11.93
Bellway	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.56	21.75

M.D.C. has higher revenue and earnings than Bellway. M.D.C. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bellway, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares M.D.C. and Bellway’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
M.D.C.	8.64%	12.32%	7.34%
Bellway	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

M.D.C. pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Bellway pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. M.D.C. pays out 41.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bellway pays out 10.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. M.D.C. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. M.D.C. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

88.1% of M.D.C. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.3% of Bellway shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.3% of M.D.C. shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

M.D.C. beats Bellway on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About M.D.C.

M.D.C. 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. The company conducts its homebuilding operations in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Alabama, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. Its financial services operations comprise originating mortgage loans primarily for homebuyers; providing insurance coverage primarily to its homebuilding subsidiaries and subcontractors for homes sold by its homebuilding subsidiaries, and for work performed in completed subdivisions; acting as a re-insurer on the claims; selling third-party personal property and casualty insurance products to homebuyers; and offering title agency services to homebuilding subsidiaries and customers in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. As of April 19, 2024, M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of SH Residential Holdings, LLC.

About Bellway

Bellway p.l.c., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the home building business in the United Kingdom. The company builds and sells homes ranging from one-bedroom apartments to six-bedroom family homes, as well as provides homes to housing associations for social housing. It offers homes under Bellway, Ashberry, and Bellway London brands. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, the United Kingdom.