Vest Financial LLC Raises Stake in Lennar Corporation $LEN

Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 20.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 294,352 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,552 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $32,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Lennar by 45.4% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,894,125 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,020,866,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777,567 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Lennar in the second quarter valued at approximately $424,950,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lennar by 23.4% in the first quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,189,608 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $251,323,000 after acquiring an additional 415,218 shares during the period. Eminence Capital LP lifted its holdings in Lennar by 130.8% in the first quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,581,489 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $181,523,000 after acquiring an additional 896,264 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lennar by 20.1% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 736,490 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $84,534,000 after acquiring an additional 123,266 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LEN. Barclays decreased their price target on Lennar from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Zelman & Associates downgraded Lennar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Lennar from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Bank of America reduced their target price on Lennar from $133.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Lennar from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.75.

Lennar Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:LEN opened at $118.85 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 4.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $129.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.46. The stock has a market cap of $30.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74, a PEG ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 1.37. Lennar Corporation has a 52-week low of $98.42 and a 52-week high of $189.65.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The construction company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.01 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 7.72%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.90 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.76%.

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.