Eagle Asset Management Inc. Sells 18,703 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 33.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,877 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 18,703 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $6,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LEN. Navellier & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $594,000. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $216,000. German American Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of Lennar by 6.6% during the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 32,190 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,035,000 after acquiring an additional 2,005 shares during the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department boosted its holdings in Lennar by 2.9% in the third quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 10,793 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,023,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Payden & Rygel acquired a new stake in Lennar in the third quarter worth about $9,955,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lennar Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:LEN opened at $169.17 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $45.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.62. Lennar Co. has a 12 month low of $125.17 and a 12 month high of $193.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 14.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. JMP Securities raised their price target on Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.56.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In related 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 value of $3,064,775.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.