Select Equity Group L.P. Buys Shares of 147,583 Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 147,583 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,126,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LEN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Lennar by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 226,081 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,831,000 after buying an additional 9,714 shares during the period. Burney Co. grew its position in shares of Lennar by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 12,738 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,737,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lennar by 69.4% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lennar by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,484 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,793,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE LEN opened at $111.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.79, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.41. Lennar Co. has a one year low of $98.42 and a one year high of $187.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business’s fifty day moving average is $110.70 and its 200-day moving average is $132.59.

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

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on LEN shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Lennar from $121.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $131.00 target price (down from $159.00) on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America cut their target price on Lennar from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Lennar from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Lennar from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.07.

Lennar Company 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.