Clearbridge Investments LLC Buys 28,938 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,931 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 28,938 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.06% of Lennar worth $24,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. D1 Capital Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 428.9% during the 2nd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 2,420,000 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $362,685,000 after buying an additional 1,962,447 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 15.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021,856 shares of the construction company's stock worth $452,886,000 after purchasing an additional 396,951 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the first quarter worth $61,807,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 157.5% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 575,003 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $98,889,000 after buying an additional 351,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Lennar by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,015,641 shares of the construction company's stock worth $302,084,000 after buying an additional 348,553 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Down 2.5 %

Lennar stock traded down $4.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $182.25. The stock had a trading volume of 2,419,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,077,726. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $102.90 and a 52-week high of $193.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $179.65 and a 200 day moving average of $165.65. The firm has a market cap of $50.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.28. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 11.51%. The company had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.91 EPS. Lennar's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 14.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Lennar's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LEN shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. JMP Securities upped their price target on Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Lennar from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $180.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) boosted their price target on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $181.94.

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.