Select Equity Group L.P. Takes Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 147,583 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,126,000. Select Equity Group L.P. owned 0.06% of Lennar as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 69.4% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in Lennar by 611.9% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 299 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lennar from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Lennar from $141.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Lennar from $121.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lennar from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Lennar from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.07.

Lennar Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $111.67 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.59. The firm has a market cap of $29.46 billion, a PE ratio of 7.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.41. Lennar Co. has a 1 year low of $98.42 and a 1 year high of $187.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.57 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio 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.