abrdn plc Grows Stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

abrdn plc increased its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 35.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,885 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,418 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Lennar were worth $13,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lennar during the third quarter worth $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 933.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 155 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Lennar during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lennar in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the first quarter worth about $32,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Zelman & Associates raised Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their price target on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lennar from $154.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.11.

Lennar Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of LEN opened at $169.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.61. Lennar Co. has a 12-month low of $113.44 and a 12-month high of $193.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $181.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.54. The company has a current ratio of 4.90, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.25%.

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.