Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $6.68 Million Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,973 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $6,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LEN. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Lennar during the 3rd quarter valued at $131,000. Commerce Bank increased its stake in Lennar by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 15,074 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Lennar by 2.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Lennar during the 3rd quarter valued at $594,000. Finally, Camden National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth $250,000. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research lowered shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.53.

Lennar Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $115.09 on Friday. Lennar Co. has a 12-month low of $111.26 and a 12-month high of $187.61. The company has a market cap of $30.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $126.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.48.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.44. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. 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.