Mizuho Securities USA LLC Buys 6,960 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 44.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,633 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,960 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $3,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 41,264 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd bought a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter valued at $900,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Lennar by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $308,696,000 after purchasing an additional 397,492 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Lennar by 13.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 30,278 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Lennar by 71.7% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 14,327 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,686,000 after purchasing an additional 5,981 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Trading Down 4.1 %

NYSE:LEN opened at $115.09 on Monday. Lennar Co. has a one year low of $111.26 and a one year high of $187.61. 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 firm has a market cap of $30.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.13.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.44. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The business had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LEN. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.53.

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.