Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Lennar (NYSE:LEN)

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 10,175 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 31% compared to the average daily volume of 7,770 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 642,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $81.58 per share, with a total value of $52,441,337.18. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 26,034,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,123,889,288.88. This represents a 2.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have acquired 5,083,639 shares of company stock worth $402,669,384 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEN. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lennar by 1,276.4% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 757 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lennar by 5.3% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,609 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 2nd quarter worth about $317,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Lennar by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,873 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Lennar during the 2nd quarter valued at about $232,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of LEN traded down $1.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $80.15. The stock had a trading volume of 4,263,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,092,594. Lennar has a 1-year low of $75.70 and a 1-year high of $133.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 4.94 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 16th. The construction company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). Lennar had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 4.09%.The firm had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Lennar will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Research Partners lowered their price objective on Lennar from $74.00 to $70.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Lennar from $85.00 to $69.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Argus set a $108.00 target price on Lennar in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Lennar from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and ten have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $79.86.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) is a homebuilding company that designs, constructs and sells single-family homes and, through its multifamily operations, develops apartment communities. Its residential offerings generally include homes across a range of sizes and prices, serving first-time, move-up and active-adult buyers.

The company also provides related services through businesses involved in mortgage financing, title and closing services, insurance and other real estate activities. Lennar develops residential communities and manages land acquisition, planning and construction as part of its integrated homebuilding model.

Founded in 1954, Lennar has expanded from its origins in South Florida into a national homebuilder serving numerous markets across the United States.