Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Hits New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) shares reached a new 52-week low 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. The stock had previously closed at $124.92.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on LEN. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BTIG Research lowered Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Lennar during the third quarter worth approximately $305,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lennar in the third quarter worth $332,000. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lennar by 1.5% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 9,714 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,821,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 2,322 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 5.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 164,709 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,880,000 after buying an additional 8,405 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.95. The firm has a market cap of $31.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.67. 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 quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 12.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

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