AIA Group Ltd Sells 8,421 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

AIA Group Ltd cut its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 57.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,249 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 8,421 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Lennar were worth $852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LEN. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Lennar by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,110,000 after purchasing an additional 589,553 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,239,488 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $441,769,000 after buying an additional 515,378 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 397,492 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 17,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Lennar by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 691,910 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $129,719,000 after acquiring an additional 3,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Trading Up 0.8 %

LEN opened at $114.79 on Tuesday. Lennar Co. has a 12 month low of $111.26 and a 12 month high of $187.61. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $123.51 and a 200 day moving average of $150.47. The firm has a market cap of $30.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.44 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 14.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on LEN. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Lennar from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Lennar from $141.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $131.00 price target (down from $159.00) on shares of Lennar in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.07.

Lennar 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.