Lennar Corporation $LEN Shares Purchased by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 461,696 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,186 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $47,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lennar during the third quarter worth $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the third quarter valued at $25,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. High Point Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Lennar by 102.7% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 371 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on LEN. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lennar from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Lennar from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and ten have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lennar currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $89.74 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.03. The firm has a market cap of $22.17 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.39. Lennar Corporation has a 12-month low of $81.18 and a 12-month high of $144.24. The company has a current ratio of 4.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 11th. The construction company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.08 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 7.08%. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lennar Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 22nd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.30%.

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.