Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Makes New $1.23 Million Investment in Lennar Corporation $LEN

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 14,131 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Viking Global Investors LP grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 86.7% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $279,135,000 after buying an additional 1,172,068 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Lennar by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,127,225 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $218,681,000 after acquiring an additional 228,247 shares in the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lifted its stake in Lennar by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 1,963,373 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $201,835,000 after acquiring an additional 934,856 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at about $95,941,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Lennar by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 601,468 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,231,000 after acquiring an additional 27,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, June 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Lennar from $107.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on Lennar from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Lennar from $104.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Lennar from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and ten have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $92.80.

Lennar Stock Performance

LEN opened at $82.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 4.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $19.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.38. Lennar Corporation has a 1 year low of $81.18 and a 1 year high of $144.24.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 11th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.08 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 4.93%.The company’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Lennar Corporation will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 31.30%.

Lennar Profile

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) is a U.S.-based homebuilder and real estate company that designs, constructs and sells residential housing. The company offers a range of product types including single-family detached homes, townhomes and condominiums, serving buyers from entry-level and first-time purchasers to move-up, active-adult and luxury segments. Lennar also develops master-planned communities and manages land acquisition and entitlement activities that support its homebuilding operations.

In addition to home construction and sales, Lennar provides a suite of ancillary services intended to streamline the purchase process and capture additional value.