Cerity Partners LLC Buys 11,705 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 337.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,176 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,705 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $2,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,847 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,144 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,009 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,808 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LEN. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $144.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

Lennar Trading Down 1.5 %

LEN opened at $150.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.47, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.80 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.53. Lennar Co. has a 1-year low of $102.90 and a 1-year high of $172.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $159.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.30.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.39 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.02%.

Insider Activity

In other Lennar news, Director Amy Banse bought 1,575 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,861,863. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

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.