602 Shares in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Bought by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 602 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Polianta Ltd acquired a new position in Lennar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $900,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 397,492 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 71.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 14,327 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,686,000 after purchasing an additional 5,981 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Lennar by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,110,000 after purchasing an additional 589,553 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Lennar by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 26,382 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,597,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LEN shares. BTIG Research cut shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Lennar from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group cut their target price on Lennar from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Lennar from $141.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.07.

Lennar Trading Down 3.5 %

NYSE:LEN opened at $113.83 on Monday. Lennar Co. has a 12 month low of $111.26 and a 12 month high of $187.61. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $124.05 and its 200 day moving average is $150.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.22 billion, a PE ratio of 7.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.44. Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.57%.

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.