LRI Investments LLC Buys New Shares in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 2,668 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $432,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LEN. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 97.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 354,711 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,866,000 after acquiring an additional 174,981 shares in the last quarter. Cercano Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the first quarter valued at about $24,341,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,394,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 339.7% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 136,993 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $23,560,000 after acquiring an additional 105,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter worth about $15,551,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LEN traded up $5.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $176.71. 2,211,539 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,404,686. Lennar Co. has a 1 year low of $102.90 and a 1 year high of $178.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $156.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, June 17th. The construction company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.18. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 11.58%. The business had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.57 billion. Equities analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LEN shares. Argus lifted their target price on Lennar from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. BTIG Research reduced their target price on Lennar from $177.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com cut Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Wedbush raised Lennar from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $144.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $20,927,938.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $20,927,938.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.88, for a total value of $1,512,938.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now 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 sold 29,176 shares of company stock worth $4,841,039 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

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.