Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 499 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,698 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 499 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $2,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $115,229,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,110,000 after purchasing an additional 589,553 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Lennar by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $308,696,000 after purchasing an additional 397,492 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Lennar by 258.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 494,848 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,774,000 after buying an additional 356,731 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 23,048.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,209,000 after buying an additional 149,812 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lennar Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:LEN opened at $123.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.67. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $119.25 and a 52-week high of $193.80. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $138.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.66.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The business had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 12.52 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Lennar from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research downgraded Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Lennar from $170.00 to $152.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.06.

Lennar Company 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.