Valley National Advisers Inc. Sells 120 Shares of Lennar Corporation $LEN

Valley National Advisers Inc. trimmed its stake in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 25.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 346 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $38,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,777,567 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Lennar during the 2nd quarter worth $424,950,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lennar by 23.4% during 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 grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 896,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 20.1% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 736,490 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $84,534,000 after purchasing an additional 123,266 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $126.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.41. Lennar Corporation has a twelve month low of $98.42 and a twelve month high of $189.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 4.49.

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

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on LEN. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Lennar from $114.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lennar from $146.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.75.

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.