Freedom Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,066 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 3,142 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Lennar were worth $2,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 428.9% during the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 2,420,000 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $362,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,447 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Lennar by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021,856 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $452,886,000 after buying an additional 396,951 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Lennar by 258.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 494,848 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $92,774,000 after buying an additional 356,731 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Lennar by 20.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,015,641 shares of the construction company's stock worth $302,084,000 after acquiring an additional 348,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Lennar during the first quarter valued at $28,998,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company's stock.

Lennar Price Performance

NYSE:LEN traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $174.54. 537,071 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,040,904. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $177.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $47.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.62. Lennar Co. has a 1 year low of $125.17 and a 1 year high of $193.80.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.91 EPS. Lennar's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 14.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $177.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $180.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,148,654.57. This represents a 42.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.