Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on the stock from $170.00 to $152.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Lennar traded as low as $120.68 and last traded at $121.06, with a volume of 268745 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $124.92.

LEN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Lennar from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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. grew its stake in Lennar by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,991,000 after purchasing an additional 89,896 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Lennar by 147.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 69,226 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,978,000 after purchasing an additional 41,264 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $900,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lennar by 101.2% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 4,363 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Trading Down 2.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $32.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $139.34 and its 200-day moving average is $163.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.82 EPS. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 12.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.95%.

About Lennar

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.