Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Takes Position in Lennar Corporation $LEN

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 34,985 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Magnolia Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter worth $6,756,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its holdings in Lennar by 2,522.7% in the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 114,245 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,744,000 after buying an additional 109,889 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,437,000. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 42,464 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,365,000 after acquiring an additional 15,802 shares during the period. Finally, Myriad Asset Management Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,511,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group lowered 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. Evercore upped their price objective on Lennar from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Lennar from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and ten have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $92.13.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $87.85 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $86.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.39. Lennar Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $79.82 and a fifty-two week high of $144.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 4.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 11th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. Lennar had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 7.08%. The company had revenue of $7.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lennar Corporation will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.30%.

About Lennar

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.