AM Squared Ltd Sells 29,900 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

AM Squared Ltd cut its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 90.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,300 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 29,900 shares during the period. Lennar comprises approximately 1.0% of AM Squared Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. AM Squared Ltd’s holdings in Lennar were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co increased its holdings in Lennar by 80.8% during the fourth quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 24,515 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,654,000 after buying an additional 10,957 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Lennar by 6,297.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 662,277 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $98,706,000 after buying an additional 651,924 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in Lennar by 16.3% during the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 88,872 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,974,000 after buying an additional 12,469 shares during the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter worth $5,367,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 7.0% in the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,808 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In related news, Director Amy Banse acquired 1,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $157.00 per share, for a total transaction of $247,275.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,859 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,863. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on LEN shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Lennar from $179.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.88.

Lennar Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of LEN traded down $3.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $152.58. The stock had a trading volume of 3,167,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,851,659. Lennar Co. has a 12 month low of $102.90 and a 12 month high of $172.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.89. 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 company has a market capitalization of $42.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.53.

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. Equities research analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders 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 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.02%.

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.