Ariel Investments LLC Has $16.90 Million Stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Ariel Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 123,938 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,118 shares during the quarter. Ariel Investments LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $16,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LEN. Arrow Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Lennar by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 11,205 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 611.9% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 299 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lennar by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 165,440 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $22,561,000 after buying an additional 30,292 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lennar by 113.2% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,787,000 after buying an additional 6,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Lennar by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,116,558 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $834,115,000 after acquiring an additional 213,003 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $110.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. Lennar Co. has a 52 week low of $98.42 and a 52 week high of $187.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $113.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 4.71.

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

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LEN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Lennar from $141.00 to $128.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Lennar from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Lennar from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lennar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.07.

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.