Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Raises Stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,572 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 18,800 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Lennar were worth $11,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Lennar by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,903,555 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,106,798,000 after buying an additional 73,638 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Lennar by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,110,000 after buying an additional 589,553 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lennar by 3.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Lennar by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $308,696,000 after buying an additional 397,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in Lennar by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 711,023 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $133,303,000 after buying an additional 17,834 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennar Price Performance

LEN stock opened at $118.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. The business’s 50-day moving average is $127.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.67. Lennar Co. has a 1 year low of $115.61 and a 1 year high of $187.61.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.82 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Lennar from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.93.

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.