Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 33,208 Shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in Lennar Corporation by 739.9% in Q1, owning 37,696 shares valued at approximately $4.33 million.
• Equities analysts have downgraded Lennar’s rating recently, with one analyst issuing a sell rating and several adjusting their price targets downwards, resulting in a consensus price target of $128.85.
• Lennar reported a quarterly EPS of $1.90, missing estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, reflecting a yield of 1.7%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) by 739.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,696 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,208 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Lennar were worth $4,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter valued at about $218,533,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in Lennar during the first quarter valued at about $41,788,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in Lennar during the first quarter valued at about $37,055,000. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its stake in Lennar by 67.3% during the fourth quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 672,433 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $88,116,000 after acquiring an additional 270,433 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc increased its stake in Lennar by 112.5% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 506,722 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $69,102,000 after acquiring an additional 268,209 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LEN. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Lennar from $131.00 to $114.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JMP Securities lowered their price objective on Lennar from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Lennar from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Zelman & Associates downgraded Lennar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $128.85.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LEN traded up $3.79 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $115.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,639,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,010,662. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 3.65. Lennar Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $98.42 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80. The business's 50 day moving average price is $110.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.79. The company has a market cap of $30.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.29.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 16th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $8.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.21 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The business's revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Lennar's payout ratio is currently 16.54%.

Lennar Company Profile

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.