Syon Capital LLC Grows Stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Syon Capital LLC boosted its position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,559 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LEN. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lennar during the third quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the third quarter worth about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Lennar in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Lennar from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Lennar from $179.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Lennar from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

Lennar Trading Up 1.0 %

LEN traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $154.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,292,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,104,394. Lennar Co. has a 1-year low of $102.90 and a 1-year high of $172.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 5.47 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.53.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.39 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amy Banse purchased 1,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,861,863. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate 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.