Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Lennar Corporation $LEN

Key Points

• Barrow Hanley raised its stake in Lennar by 14.6% during Q3 to 4,732,654 shares (an additional 603,004 shares), representing about 1.86% of the company and roughly $596.5 million; overall institutional ownership is ~81.1%.
• Multiple brokers have trimmed ratings and targets (Evercore, UBS, Keefe, Wells Fargo), leaving the consensus an average rating of "Reduce" with an average target price of $106.14.
• Lennar shares opened at $98.78 (down ~1.2%), with a market cap of $24.4B and P/E of 12.36; the company missed last quarter's EPS ($2.03 vs. $2.30 est.) and pays a $2.00 annual dividend (~2.0% yield).

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,732,654 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 603,004 shares during the quarter. Lennar makes up 1.9% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned about 1.86% of Lennar worth $596,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Lennar by 29.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 13,840 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,177 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in Lennar by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,468 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Lennar during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,093,000. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 1,656.1% in the 2nd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 155,626 shares of the construction company's stock worth $17,214,000 after buying an additional 146,764 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore downgraded Lennar from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $114.00 to $92.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Lennar from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group lowered Lennar from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $137.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $106.14.

Lennar Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of LEN opened at $98.78 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $113.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 4.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.43. Lennar Corporation has a 52 week low of $96.40 and a 52 week high of $144.24.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 16th. The construction company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $9.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.17 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 9.27%. Lennar's revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Lennar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.03%.

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.

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