Investment Management Corp of Ontario Decreases Stock Holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario lowered its position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 83.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,953 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 41,280 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Lennar were worth $1,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 1.3% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Lennar by 15.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021,856 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $452,886,000 after acquiring an additional 396,951 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $499,991,000 after buying an additional 89,896 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 428.9% in the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 2,420,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $362,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,447 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 20.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,015,641 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $302,084,000 after acquiring an additional 348,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $164.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.61. Lennar Co. has a 1 year low of $132.27 and a 1 year high of $193.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.90 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $9.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 11.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.91 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 14.18 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LEN. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Lennar from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Lennar from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Zelman & Associates raised Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $184.29.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 42.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.