Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Acquires 1,980 Shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 41.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,761 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,116,558 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $834,115,000 after purchasing an additional 213,003 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,239,488 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $441,769,000 after purchasing an additional 515,378 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $218,533,000. Eminence Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 685,225 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $93,444,000 after purchasing an additional 207,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 67.3% in the fourth quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 672,433 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $88,116,000 after purchasing an additional 270,433 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Zelman & Associates downgraded Lennar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 note on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Lennar from $122.00 to $98.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Lennar from $128.00 to $114.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.85.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $115.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.64. Lennar Corporation has a 1-year low of $98.42 and a 1-year high of $193.80. The firm has a market cap of $29.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 16th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.04). Lennar had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The firm had revenue of $8.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 16.54%.

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.