IFM Investors Pty Ltd Lowers Stock Holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,854 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,130 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Lennar were worth $9,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Lennar by 428.9% in the 2nd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 2,420,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $362,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,447 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Lennar by 15.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021,856 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $452,886,000 after buying an additional 396,951 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the first quarter worth approximately $61,807,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lennar by 157.5% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 575,003 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $98,889,000 after buying an additional 351,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Lennar by 20.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,015,641 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $302,084,000 after acquiring an additional 348,553 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Up 1.9 %

Lennar stock opened at $175.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.90, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Lennar Co. has a 12-month low of $102.90 and a 12-month high of $193.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $181.94 and a 200 day moving average of $167.02.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.28. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.91 EPS. Lennar’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LEN shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Lennar from $177.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $144.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) boosted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.11.

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.