AIA Group Ltd Raises Stock Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 36.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,539 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,639 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Lennar were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LEN. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Lennar by 551.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,824,684 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $191,793,000 after buying an additional 1,544,432 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Lennar by 6,297.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 662,277 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $98,706,000 after buying an additional 651,924 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lennar by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,501,257 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $168,486,000 after buying an additional 484,056 shares in the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar in the 4th quarter worth $39,991,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Lennar by 236.0% in the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 229,341 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $24,106,000 after buying an additional 397,951 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on LEN. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $137.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $179.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $224.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In related news, Director Amy Banse bought 1,575 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,861,863. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $152.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 5.47 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $42.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.53. Lennar Co. has a 1 year low of $102.90 and a 1 year high of $172.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.03.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.02%.

About Lennar

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.