Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Grows Holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 18.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,114 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $152,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Lennar by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,110,000 after acquiring an additional 589,553 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $308,696,000 after purchasing an additional 397,492 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 0.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 691,910 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $129,719,000 after purchasing an additional 3,130 shares during the period. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT grew its position in Lennar by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 396,289 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $54,042,000 after buying an additional 42,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Lennar by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 391,524 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $53,392,000 after buying an additional 13,474 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LEN shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Lennar from $141.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $131.00 price objective (down previously from $159.00) on shares of Lennar in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.07.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEN opened at $114.37 on Wednesday. Lennar Co. has a one year low of $111.26 and a one year high of $187.61. The stock has a market cap of $30.37 billion, a PE ratio of 7.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $123.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 4.71.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.44. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The business had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.57%.

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.