Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Invests $203,000 in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,359 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lennar during the third quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Lennar during the third quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:LEN opened at $155.47 on Tuesday. Lennar Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.90 and a fifty-two week high of $172.59. The firm has a market cap of $43.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 5.47.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $7.31 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.02%.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Amy Banse purchased 1,575 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 11,859 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,863. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $224.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $179.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Lennar from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

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.