Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Takes $227,000 Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,812 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Lennar in the 2nd quarter worth $61,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Lennar by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 717 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Lennar by 494.4% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 737 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Lennar in the 2nd quarter worth about $99,000. Finally, Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Lennar by 11,037.5% in the 1st quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 891 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $161.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Monday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $150.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Lennar from $143.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 12th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $123.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research note on Monday, September 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.82.

Insider Activity at Lennar

In related news, VP David M. Collins sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 37,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,800. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Amy Banse purchased 920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $108.71 per share, with a total value of $100,013.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,230.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David M. Collins sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 37,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,350,896 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 9.53% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Price Performance

NYSE LEN opened at $127.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 6.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $113.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.34. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $82.73 and a 52-week high of $133.24. The company has a market cap of $36.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.49.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, September 15th. The construction company reported $3.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.39. Lennar had a net margin of 11.66% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company had revenue of $8.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.18 earnings per share. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 13.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 12th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 11th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 11.12%.

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.