B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Buys New Stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 39,192 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,348,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in shares of Lennar by 933.3% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 155 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lennar during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in Lennar by 4,225.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 173 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Lennar by 523.3% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 187 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Lennar from $177.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $154.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Lennar from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their price target on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In related news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This trade represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 9.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $168.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $45.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $125.17 and a 52-week high of $193.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $178.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.16.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $9.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.14 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. Lennar’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.91 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 14.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s payout ratio is currently 13.25%.

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.