LRI Investments LLC Makes New $131,000 Investment in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 763 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Lennar in the 1st quarter worth about $61,807,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 157.5% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 575,003 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $98,889,000 after acquiring an additional 351,698 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 97.4% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Cercano Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $24,341,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Lennar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,394,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LEN. StockNews.com cut shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 27th. Wedbush raised Lennar from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $144.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $174.00) on shares of Lennar in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Lennar from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lennar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.88.

Insider Transactions 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,927,938.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Lennar news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total value of $1,627,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.88, for a total transaction of $1,512,938.88. Following the sale, 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 a total of 29,176 shares of company stock valued at $4,841,039 over the last three months. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lennar Price Performance

Lennar stock opened at $174.46 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 4.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $47.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.60. Lennar Co. has a 12-month low of $102.90 and a 12-month high of $182.53.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 17th. The construction company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.60%.

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.