Verition Fund Management LLC Grows Position in Lennar Corporation $LEN

Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 206.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 132,400 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,126 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Lennar worth $13,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LEN. Viking Global Investors LP raised its holdings in Lennar by 86.7% during the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $279,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,068 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its holdings in Lennar by 90.9% during the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 1,963,373 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $201,835,000 after acquiring an additional 934,856 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Lennar by 14.6% during the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,732,654 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $596,504,000 after acquiring an additional 603,004 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Lennar by 1,303.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 490,105 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,383,000 after acquiring an additional 455,174 shares during the period. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Lennar during the third quarter valued at about $26,371,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Down 0.6%

LEN opened at $89.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.39. Lennar Corporation has a 12 month low of $81.18 and a 12 month high of $144.24. The company has a current ratio of 4.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $89.44 and a 200 day moving average of $102.93.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 11th. The construction company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.08 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 4.93%.The firm’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lennar Corporation will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Lennar from $122.00 to $107.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, June 5th. BTIG Research set a $67.00 price objective on Lennar in a research report on Monday. BofA cut their price objective on Lennar from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Seaport Research Partners restated a “sell” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Lennar in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and ten have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $95.38.

Lennar Company Profile

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) is a U.S.-based homebuilder and real estate company that designs, constructs and sells residential housing. The company offers a range of product types including single-family detached homes, townhomes and condominiums, serving buyers from entry-level and first-time purchasers to move-up, active-adult and luxury segments. Lennar also develops master-planned communities and manages land acquisition and entitlement activities that support its homebuilding operations.

In addition to home construction and sales, Lennar provides a suite of ancillary services intended to streamline the purchase process and capture additional value.