Xponance Inc. Raises Stock Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 25.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 40,717 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,186 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $5,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LEN. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 147.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 69,226 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,978,000 after buying an additional 41,264 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $900,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $308,696,000 after buying an additional 397,492 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 13.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 30,278 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,677,000 after buying an additional 3,674 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 71.7% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 14,327 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,686,000 after buying an additional 5,981 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $120.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $126.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.18. Lennar Co. has a 1-year low of $115.61 and a 1-year high of $187.61. The company has a market cap of $32.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.82 earnings per share. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $158.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn raised Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $152.00 to $141.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.53.

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.