Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. Increases Holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,251 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 546 shares during the quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $1,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Lennar by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,544,345 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $734,477,000 after buying an additional 366,983 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Lennar by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,681,233 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $399,611,000 after buying an additional 79,217 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Lennar by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,700,016 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $253,319,000 after buying an additional 72,146 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lennar by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,542,363 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $173,099,000 after buying an additional 6,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $144.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Lennar from $137.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Lennar from $179.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.88.

Lennar Stock Performance

NYSE:LEN traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $151.43. 514,271 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,073,781. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $159.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.90. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.53. Lennar Co. has a twelve month low of $102.90 and a twelve month high of $172.59.

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

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.02%.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

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

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.