Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 580,809 Shares of Lennar Corporation $LEN

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its stake in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 61.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 362,982 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 580,809 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $37,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 14.6% in the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,732,654 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $596,504,000 after acquiring an additional 603,004 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 86.7% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $279,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,068 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 41.0% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 578,927 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $72,968,000 after acquiring an additional 168,196 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 3.7% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 555,305 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,991,000 after acquiring an additional 19,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 542,190 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,737,000 after acquiring an additional 88,707 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lennar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $113.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $98.00.

Trending Headlines about Lennar

Here are the key news stories impacting Lennar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Lennar sold Raleigh townhomes to an investor, reinforcing demand for rental housing and showing the company can monetize completed projects even in a tougher housing market. Lennar sells Raleigh townhomes to California investor as rental demand surges
• Positive Sentiment: Ongoing planning progress for the Cortlandt townhomes suggests Lennar continues to advance its land and community-development pipeline, which supports future growth. VS and Lennar move forward with planning for Cortlandt townhomes
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles focus on Lennar’s valuation, margin pressure, and upcoming earnings expectations, keeping attention on whether the stock is fairly priced ahead of the next results. Evaluating Lennar (LEN) As Shares Trade Near Analyst Fair Value Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry commentary continues to point to the housing “lock-in effect,” which could help homebuilders like Lennar if lower rates improve affordability and unlock more demand. The Lock-In Effect Is Real—These 3 Homebuilders Are Betting on It (LEN)
• Negative Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lennar from “market perform” to “underperform” and cut its price target to $86 from $97, signaling concern about limited upside and possible margin pressure. KBW downgrades Lennar

Lennar Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $92.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 4.77. Lennar Corporation has a 52-week low of $81.18 and a 52-week high of $144.24.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The construction company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.14 EPS. Analysts expect that Lennar Corporation will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Lennar’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

About Lennar

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.