Westside Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Westside Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 800 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 321 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Lennar by 1.3% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,903,555 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,106,798,000 after acquiring an additional 73,638 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lennar by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,991,000 after purchasing an additional 89,896 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $308,696,000 after buying an additional 397,492 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its position in Lennar by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 711,023 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $133,303,000 after buying an additional 17,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lennar by 0.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 691,910 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $129,719,000 after buying an additional 3,130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of LEN opened at $136.26 on Thursday. Lennar Co. has a 1-year low of $128.41 and a 1-year high of $193.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $151.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.41. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by ($0.12). Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LEN. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $181.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com cut Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. BTIG Research lowered Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.50.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a homebuilder primarily under the Lennar brand in the United States. It operates through Homebuilding East, Homebuilding Central, Homebuilding Texas, Homebuilding West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other segments. The company’s homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes, as well as the purchase, development, and sale of residential land; and development, construction, and management of multifamily rental properties.