Janus Henderson Group PLC Acquires 419,745 Shares of Lennar Corporation $LEN

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 19.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,546,970 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 419,745 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $221,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Magnolia Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter worth about $6,756,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Lennar by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 62,689 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,445,000 after buying an additional 15,998 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its position in shares of Lennar by 2,522.7% in the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 114,245 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,744,000 after purchasing an additional 109,889 shares during the period. Third View Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,269,000. Finally, Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,437,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $83.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.38. Lennar Corporation has a 1 year low of $79.82 and a 1 year 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $87.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.39.

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

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on LEN. Barclays lowered their target price on Lennar from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Lennar from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Lennar from $107.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Bank of America cut their target price on Lennar from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and ten have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $92.80.

Lennar Company 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.