The Dividend Daily

After the bell on Tuesday home builder The Ryland Group, Inc. (RYL) saw its fourth quarter profit soar as the company benefited from higher sale prices and more homes sold. The results easily beat the Wall Street view.

The Westlake Village, California-based company reported a net income of $28.6 million, or 55 cents per share, up drastically from $812,000, or 2 cents per share, earned in the year earlier period.

Revenue also spiked, coming in at $440.1 million compared to $261.4 million in the prior year.

Ryland’s quarterly results beat the Wall Street consensus. According to FactSet, analysts were anticipating an EPS of 49 cents on revenue of $406.8 million.

Recently there has a been a higher demand for homes. To the benefit of Ryland, the higher demand, along with a short supply of homes available for sale, has pushed up prices. The increased prices coupled with more homes sold resulted in higher fourth quarter earnings.

For for the full year 2012, Ryland’s net income was $40.4 million, or 84 cents per share, compared with a loss of $50.8 million, or $1.14 per share, in 2011. 2012 revenue was also up to $1.31 billion from $889.5 million in 2011.

Ryland Group shares were up $1.67, or +4.04%, during pre-market trading on Wednesday. The stock is up +124.51% over the past year.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Ryland Group (RYL) have a dividend yield of 0.29% based on last night’s closing price of $41.31.

The Ryland Group, Inc. (RYL) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars.

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