Advisors Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,109 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 3,227 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Lennar were worth $1,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LEN. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 23,775 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,089,000 after buying an additional 4,207 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 23,048.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $28,209,000 after buying an additional 149,812 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the second quarter worth approximately $477,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the 1st quarter worth about $996,000. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 3.5% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $499,991,000 after buying an additional 89,896 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This trade represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lennar Price Performance

Lennar stock traded down $5.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $173.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,997,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,047,547. Lennar Co. has a one year low of $125.17 and a one year high of $193.80. The company has a current ratio of 4.90, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm's 50 day moving average is $177.90 and its 200 day moving average is $169.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.62.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company posted $3.91 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 14.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LEN shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Lennar from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $180.56.

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.