Mizuho Bank Ltd. Makes New Investment in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 310 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Polianta Ltd purchased a new position in Lennar in the fourth quarter worth $900,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $308,696,000 after acquiring an additional 397,492 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Lennar by 71.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 14,327 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,686,000 after purchasing an additional 5,981 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Lennar by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $446,110,000 after buying an additional 589,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of Lennar by 51.8% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 26,382 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,597,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 29th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $131.00 price objective (down from $159.00) on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Lennar from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.07.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $110.87 on Friday. Lennar Co. has a 12 month low of $106.20 and a 12 month high of $187.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.91. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $29.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.44 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.57 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.57%.

Lennar Company 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.