Criterion Capital Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 240 Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 240 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in Lennar by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,847 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 2.3% in the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,144 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 2.6% in the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,009 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 4.2% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 7.0% in the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,808 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE LEN traded down $2.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $150.19. 2,451,601 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,967,259. The company has a market cap of $41.80 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.53. Lennar Co. has a one year low of $102.90 and a one year high of $172.59. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $159.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.54. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.36. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 11.59%. The business had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Lennar’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 14.46 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lennar news, Director Amy Banse acquired 1,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,859 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,863. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lennar from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Lennar from $161.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Lennar from $137.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lennar has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

About Lennar

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.