Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Acquires 718 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,033 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $8,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LEN. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Lennar during the third quarter worth about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Lennar during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Lennar by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 497 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Amy Banse acquired 1,575 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,861,863. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lennar Trading Down 1.0 %

Lennar stock traded down $1.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $150.92. 933,604 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,109,094. Lennar Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.90 and a fifty-two week high of $172.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $159.62 and its 200-day moving average is $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 5.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.53.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.36. Lennar had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $137.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays upped their price target on Lennar from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Lennar from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Lennar from $161.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.