Lennar Corporation $LEN Stock: Sage Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Position

Sage Investment Counsel LLC decreased its stake in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 61.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,930 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 9,278 shares during the quarter. Sage Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Polaris Financial Partners acquired a new stake in Lennar during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. acquired a new position in Lennar in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Lennar in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. GK Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 1,276.4% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 757 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 1,708,095 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $79.44 per share, for a total transaction of $135,691,066.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 28,438,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,118,294.80. The trade was a 6.39% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders purchased 7,502,276 shares of company stock valued at $595,303,287 over the last three months. 10.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on LEN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Barclays cut their target price on Lennar from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and eleven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $79.00.

Lennar Price Performance

NYSE LEN opened at $83.97 on Tuesday. Lennar Corporation has a 1 year low of $71.78 and a 1 year high of $133.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.27. The company has a current ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $19.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.36.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 16th. The construction company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 4.09%. The business’s revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lennar Corporation will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 7th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.81%.

Lennar Profile

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) is a homebuilding and real estate company that develops, constructs, and sells primarily single-family homes. The company offers homes across a range of price points and designs, including residences for first-time, move-up, luxury, and active-adult buyers. Its operations also include land acquisition and development, allowing Lennar to prepare communities and lots for residential construction.

In addition to homebuilding, Lennar develops multifamily rental properties and provides related financial services.