Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Reduces Stock Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lessened its stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 31.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,978 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 910 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co increased its position in Lennar by 80.8% during the 4th quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 24,515 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,654,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Lennar by 6,297.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 662,277 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $98,706,000 after buying an additional 651,924 shares during the period. PGGM Investments grew its holdings in Lennar by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 88,872 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,974,000 after buying an additional 12,469 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,367,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Amy Banse purchased 1,575 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $157.00 per share, for a total transaction of $247,275.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,861,863. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $159.90 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $159.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.31. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $102.90 and a 52-week high of $172.59. The firm has a market cap of $44.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 5.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Lennar from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Lennar from $161.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.88.

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.