KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $19.36 Million Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 141,994 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,364,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned about 0.05% of Lennar as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Lennar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lennar by 69.4% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lennar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Lennar by 136.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 232 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $141.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.53.

Lennar Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of LEN stock opened at $115.09 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization 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 one year low of $111.26 and a one year high of $187.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $126.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.13. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.44 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. Lennar’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Lennar’s payout ratio 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.