Centaurus Financial Inc. Raises Stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,937 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 71 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Lennar by 15.1% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 89,896 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. boosted its stake in Lennar by 428.9% during 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 buying an additional 1,962,447 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Lennar by 20.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,015,641 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $302,084,000 after buying an additional 348,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP increased its stake in Lennar by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 655,368 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $98,220,000 after acquiring an additional 83,316 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennar Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $173.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 4.90. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $125.17 and a 52-week high of $193.80. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $177.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.25%.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This trade represents a 42.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on LEN shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lennar from $177.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Lennar from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.56.

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.