Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 33,208 Shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 739.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,696 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,208 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $4,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Lennar during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Franchise Capital Ltd bought a new position in Lennar in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Lennar from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Zelman & Associates cut Lennar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Lennar from $164.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $131.00 to $114.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.85.

Lennar Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $115.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 3.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Lennar Corporation has a twelve month low of $98.42 and a twelve month high of $193.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $110.63 and its 200-day moving average is $115.14. The stock has a market cap of $30.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 1.29.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, June 16th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.04). Lennar had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The business had revenue of $8.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.54%.

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.