Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 418 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,044 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Lennar were worth $5,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Amy Banse acquired 1,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,861,863. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of LEN opened at $158.10 on Friday. Lennar Co. has a 52 week low of $102.90 and a 52 week high of $172.59. The firm has a market cap of $44.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 5.47.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.39 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on LEN. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $137.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $161.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

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.