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

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $124.92.

A number of other research firms have also commented on LEN. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays decreased their target price on Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.06.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Lennar by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,903,555 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,106,798,000 after purchasing an additional 73,638 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,110,000 after buying an additional 589,553 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $499,991,000 after buying an additional 89,896 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Lennar by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $308,696,000 after acquiring an additional 397,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in Lennar by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 711,023 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $133,303,000 after acquiring an additional 17,834 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $31.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $139.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.95.

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

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.