Forensic Analysis · Homebuilders & Residential Construction · as of Nov 8, 2026
Century Communities, Inc. (CCS)
A forensic read on Century Communities, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
5.7%
ROE
-6.4%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Century Communities, Inc. earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by cash conversion.
What the filings flag
0.43×
FY2023–FY2025
Cash conversion.Over FY2023–FY2025, cumulative operating cash flow was 0.43× cumulative net income. Reported profit is not turning into cash. The shortfall is profit tied up in working capital rather than collected — the accrual and receivables lines below show where.Cash conversion: operating cash flow divided by net income, the share of profit that arrived as cash.
5.8%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 5.8% in the latest fiscal year, against 9.4% in FY2023, having run between 5.8% and 11.6% across FY2023–FY2025 with no direction held. After-tax operating profit was $302M in FY2023 and $209M in FY2025. The capital base behind it grew +11% across FY2023–FY2025, from $3.2B to $3.6B, while the return fell 3.6 points, so the dollars added over that window earned less than the 9.4% the older base was already earning.
143% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $178M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 143% of free cash flow. That is $54M (43%) more than free cash flow covered, and more than operating cash flow as well. It came out of the balance sheet's own liquid holdings, not new debt: cash fell $41M over FY2025, while total debt fell $6M — $41M of the $54M. The FY2025 cash-flow statement filed $500M of debt issued against $500M repaid; $25M from sales of property and equipment; net cash provided by investing activities of $45M; net cash used in financing activities of $234M. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $20M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 160%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$4.12B
Revenue Growth YoY-6.4%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+5.6%
Net Margin3.6%
Free Cash Flow$124.3M
Return on Equity5.7%
Debt / Equity0.43x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Century Communities, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?