Allianz SE Acquires Shares of 1,751 Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,751 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LEN. Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in Lennar by 2.6% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 711,023 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $133,303,000 after purchasing an additional 17,834 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of Lennar by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 4,465 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $837,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the third quarter worth approximately $115,229,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Lennar in the third quarter valued at approximately $533,000. Finally, HighVista Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,444,000. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of LEN opened at $114.79 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.48 billion, a PE ratio of 8.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $123.51 and its 200-day moving average is $150.47. Lennar Co. has a 12 month low of $111.26 and a 12 month high of $187.61.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.44 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. Lennar’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lennar from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lennar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.07.

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.