Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $30.83 Million Holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 226,081 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,714 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $30,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LEN. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,075 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Lennar by 2.5% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in Lennar by 0.5% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 15,074 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,667 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Lennar by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,510 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total value of $3,064,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on LEN shares. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Lennar from $210.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research cut Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.50.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $140.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.66. Lennar Co. has a 52 week low of $128.41 and a 52 week high of $193.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $154.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.37. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.82 earnings per share. Lennar’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

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.