Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) by 13.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,278 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,674 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Lennar were worth $5,677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in Lennar by 933.3% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 155 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Lennar in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in Lennar by 4,225.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 173 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total value of $3,064,775.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This represents a 42.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 9.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Lennar from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com lowered Lennar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Lennar from $177.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $180.56.

Lennar Stock Down 3.0 %

NYSE:LEN opened at $173.35 on Wednesday. Lennar Co. has a fifty-two week low of $125.17 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $177.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 4.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.62.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.28. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 11.51%. The business had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.91 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 14.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.50 dividend. 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%.

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.