AIA Group Ltd Reduces Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

AIA Group Ltd lessened its position in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,670 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 558 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Lennar were worth $2,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lennar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $349,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Lennar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $702,000. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Lennar by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,432 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,310,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Lennar by 56.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,965 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $180.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Zelman & Associates raised Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Lennar from $154.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $144.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.56.

Lennar Stock Performance

Lennar stock opened at $171.41 on Friday. 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 fifty day moving average of $180.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.09. The company has a market capitalization of $46.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.62. Lennar Co. has a fifty-two week low of $118.92 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released 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. The company had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 11.51%. Lennar’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 14.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

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.