Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN – Free Report) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,520 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LEN. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in Lennar by 69.4% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in Lennar by 933.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 155 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 4,225.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 173 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LEN. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Lennar from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Lennar from $210.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.50.

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Insider Buying and Selling

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

Lennar Stock Up 2.3 %

LEN opened at $136.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $36.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 4.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $151.64 and its 200 day moving average is $167.41. Lennar Co. has a fifty-two week low of $128.41 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The business’s revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.95%.

Lennar Profile

(Free Report)

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.