Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires New Shares in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 24,498 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,341,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Lennar by 1.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,903,555 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,106,798,000 after purchasing an additional 73,638 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 589,553 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Lennar by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $308,696,000 after purchasing an additional 397,492 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in Lennar by 2.6% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 711,023 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $133,303,000 after purchasing an additional 17,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lennar by 0.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 691,910 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $129,719,000 after purchasing an additional 3,130 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.53.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN stock opened at $115.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $126.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.31. The firm has a market cap of $30.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. Lennar Co. has a 1 year low of $111.26 and a 1 year high of $187.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 4.71.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.44 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.95%.

Lennar 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.