Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 2,761 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,760 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 2,761 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $3,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lennar during the third quarter worth about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Lennar by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 497 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LEN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Lennar from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $161.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $137.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.88.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $150.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.47, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.54. Lennar Co. has a 12 month low of $102.90 and a 12 month high of $172.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.53.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.39 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 11.59%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 14.46 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Amy Banse acquired 1,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $157.00 per share, for a total transaction of $247,275.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,861,863. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate 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.