Leuthold Group LLC Lowers Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Leuthold Group LLC lowered its stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,464 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,137 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $6,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Lennar by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,903,555 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,106,798,000 after buying an additional 73,638 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,110,000 after purchasing an additional 589,553 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lennar by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $499,991,000 after purchasing an additional 89,896 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake 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 valued at $308,696,000 after buying an additional 397,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 711,023 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $133,303,000 after buying an additional 17,834 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of LEN opened at $120.59 on Friday. Lennar Co. has a 1 year low of $117.90 and a 1 year high of $193.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $32.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.67.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Lennar from $170.00 to $152.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.88.

Lennar 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.