ABC Arbitrage SA Makes New Investment in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 27,141 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,701,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in Lennar by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of Lennar by 933.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 155 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Stock Up 0.1 %

Lennar stock opened at $123.85 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $137.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $163.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Lennar Co. has a 1-year low of $119.25 and a 1-year high of $193.80. The stock has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.67.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by ($0.12). Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 12.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research cut Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lennar from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.06.

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.