Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 11,705 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 337.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,176 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,705 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $2,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Lennar by 5.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,544,345 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $734,477,000 after acquiring an additional 366,983 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Lennar by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,681,233 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $399,611,000 after acquiring an additional 79,217 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 551.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,824,684 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $191,793,000 after buying an additional 1,544,432 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,700,016 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $253,319,000 after buying an additional 72,146 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,542,363 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $173,099,000 after buying an additional 6,803 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LEN shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Lennar from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Lennar from $224.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Lennar from $137.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $144.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amy Banse purchased 1,575 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,861,863. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lennar Price Performance

Lennar stock opened at $150.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.52, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.53. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $102.90 and a 52-week high of $172.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $159.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 5.47.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

Lennar Company 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.