Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 329 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,728 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 329 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Lennar were worth $3,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Lennar during the third quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in Lennar by 34.3% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 497 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $137.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lennar from $179.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Lennar from $161.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.88.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEN opened at $151.62 on Tuesday. Lennar Co. has a one year low of $102.90 and a one year high of $172.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 5.47 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $159.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.08.

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

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s payout ratio is presently 14.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.