Candriam S.C.A. Acquires 5,718 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 47.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,649 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 5,718 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $2,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its stake 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 period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 147.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 69,226 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,978,000 after purchasing an additional 41,264 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at about $900,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 101.2% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,363 shares during the period. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 397,492 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Lennar from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.88.

Lennar Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of LEN opened at $125.24 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. Lennar Co. has a 1 year low of $116.67 and a 1 year high of $187.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.95%.

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.