Independent Advisor Alliance Buys Shares of 10,952 Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new position in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,952 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 1.3% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 73,638 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $446,110,000 after buying an additional 589,553 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lennar by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,991,000 after buying an additional 89,896 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Lennar by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $308,696,000 after acquiring an additional 397,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY raised its stake in Lennar by 2.6% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 711,023 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $133,303,000 after acquiring an additional 17,834 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Stock Performance

LEN stock opened at $118.06 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $115.61 and a 1-year high of $187.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $127.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.67. The firm has a market cap of $31.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 13.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LEN. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Lennar from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.93.

Lennar Company Profile

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.