Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 237 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,092 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lennar by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,854 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Lennar by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 391,524 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $53,392,000 after acquiring an additional 13,474 shares in the last quarter. Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter valued at $805,000. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter valued at $1,494,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Lennar by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 32,154 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of LEN opened at $115.09 on Friday. Lennar Co. has a 1-year low of $111.26 and a 1-year high of $187.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $126.09 and a 200 day moving average of $153.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.44. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 13.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $141.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.