Housing Demand Brings Significant Upside in Century Communities (CCS) Shares

Soumya Eswaran Wed, July 15, 2026 at 10:46 AM EDT 3 min read **

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Heartland Advisors**, an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2026 investor letter for the "Heartland Value Plus Fund". A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Small-cap stocks rose in the second quarter, with the Russell 2000® Index increasing 21.49%, outpacing the 15.20% gain for the S&P 500 Index. The artificial intelligence trade continues to be a key theme in the market. Small-cap value is benefiting from a strengthening economic environment. The Value Plus Fund rose 19.25% in the second quarter, compared with the 17.19% return for the Russell 2000 Value Index, driven by strong gains from Materials, Energy, and Real Estate holdings. In addition, you can check the Fund's top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2026.

In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Heartland Value Plus Fund highlighted Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS). Headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado, Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS) is a single-family attached and detached home builder. On July 14, 2026, Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS) closed at $65.28 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $1.88 billion. Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS) posted a one-month return of 9.00%, while its shares gained 9.99% over the past 52 weeks.

Heartland Value Plus Fund stated the following regarding Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS) in its Q2 2026 investor update:

** "Another non-AI holding is Century Communities, Inc.** (NYSE:CCS), a Denver-based builder of single-family homes predominantly in the West, Southwest, Mountain states, and Southeast. High mortgage rates and concerns about home affordability have kept demand for new houses tempered. As a result of the poor sentiment, CCS shares are trading at less than 1X book value— 0.81X to be exact.

We do not know when demand for housing will pick up or what will happen with interest rates. What we do know is that these historically low valuation levels are attracting patient, long-term capital, resulting in multiple take-outs in the space in the past six months. Berkshire Hathaway, for instance, recently acquired public homebuilder Taylor Morrison at 1.1X book value, and the Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo acquired Tri Pointe Homes for 1.2X book value.

We believe this is a sign that near-term pessimism is fully priced into current valuations, and some of these stocks offer considerable long-term value when conditions do improve. Even small improvements in housing demand should provide meaningful upside. In the meantime, CCS continues to hit two of our three capital allocation signals by buying back stock at these discounted valuations while continuing to grow the dividend."

** Story Continues Is Century Communities, Inc. (CCS) the Best Breakout Stock to Buy According to Analysts? Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 27 hedge fund portfolios held Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS) at the end of the first quarter, up from 24 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on thebest short-term AI stock**.

In another article, we covered Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCS) and shared the list of best small cap stocks to buy with highest upside potential. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.