First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services Raises Holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,479 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services’ holdings in Lennar were worth $2,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of LEN. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 428.9% during the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 2,420,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $362,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,447 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the third quarter worth about $115,229,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $308,696,000 after acquiring an additional 397,492 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Lennar by 15.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021,856 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $452,886,000 after buying an additional 396,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Lennar by 258.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 494,848 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,774,000 after buying an additional 356,731 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total value of $3,064,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $141.55 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.39 billion, a PE ratio of 9.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 4.71. Lennar Co. has a fifty-two week low of $128.41 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on LEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Lennar from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.50.

Lennar 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.