Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Sets New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $121.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Lennar traded as low as $128.21 and last traded at $126.00, with a volume of 19643 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $131.24.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on LEN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $210.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Lennar from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Lennar by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 49,237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,231,000 after buying an additional 2,575 shares during the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lennar during the 3rd quarter valued at $370,000. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in Lennar by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,330 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lennar by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 1,665 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Lennar by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,147 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Down 3.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 4.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a PE ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.66.

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

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors 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 yield of 1.59%. 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.