Empirical Asset Management LLC Has $438,000 Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 38.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,209 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 887 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 23,048.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,209,000 after acquiring an additional 149,812 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,991,000 after buying an additional 89,896 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 147.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 69,226 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,978,000 after acquiring an additional 41,264 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lennar by 101.2% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 4,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Lennar by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 101,463 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $19,022,000 after purchasing an additional 8,092 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Price Performance

LEN stock opened at $141.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.39 billion, a PE ratio of 9.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $152.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.32. Lennar Co. has a 1 year low of $128.41 and a 1 year high of $193.80. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by ($0.12). Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.82 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at $4,148,654.57. This represents a 42.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $181.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wolfe Research downgraded Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Lennar from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.50.

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.