Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 17.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,793 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 561 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners boosted its position in Lennar by 21.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 23,775 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,089,000 after purchasing an additional 4,207 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 342.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 18,830 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,238,000 after acquiring an additional 14,578 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 54.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 42,797 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,360,000 after acquiring an additional 15,024 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments increased its stake in Lennar by 3.9% in the first quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 78,364 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Lennar in the first quarter valued at $28,998,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In other Lennar news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total value of $1,627,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 128,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,927,938.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Lennar news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total value of $1,627,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 128,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,927,938.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.88, for a total value of $1,512,938.88. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 16,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,707.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,176 shares of company stock worth $4,841,039 over the last 90 days. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James lowered Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Argus upped their price target on Lennar from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wedbush upgraded Lennar from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $144.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.88.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of LEN traded down $1.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $174.46. The stock had a trading volume of 2,327,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,541,939. Lennar Co. has a 52 week low of $102.90 and a 52 week high of $182.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $157.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.74. The company has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.60.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 17th. The construction company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.57 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 11.58%. On average, analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.60%.

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.