Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $145.00 to $130.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Lennar traded as low as $117.90 and last traded at $121.07, with a volume of 259321 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $122.50.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on LEN. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $170.00 to $152.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEN. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Lennar by 23,048.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,209,000 after acquiring an additional 149,812 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lennar by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $499,991,000 after purchasing an additional 89,896 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Lennar by 147.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 69,226 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,978,000 after buying an additional 41,264 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd acquired a new stake in Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at $900,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 101.2% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 4,363 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennar Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $32.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $135.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $162.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.95%.

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.