Cibc World Markets Corp Increases Holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,654 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 4,889 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Lennar were worth $5,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Lennar by 147.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 69,226 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,978,000 after buying an additional 41,264 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd purchased a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $900,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 397,492 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Lennar by 13.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 30,278 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,677,000 after buying an additional 3,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in Lennar by 71.7% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 14,327 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,686,000 after purchasing an additional 5,981 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group cut their target price on Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $141.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.53.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN stock opened at $120.55 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $126.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.18. Lennar Co. has a 52 week low of $115.61 and a 52 week high of $187.61. The company has a market cap of $32.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.82 EPS. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 13.95%.

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.