DAVENPORT & Co LLC Decreases Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 25.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,289 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,108 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lennar by 69.4% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 933.3% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 155 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Down 4.2 %

Lennar stock opened at $121.95 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $32.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.67. Lennar Co. has a fifty-two week low of $121.40 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $142.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.10.

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 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 company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 12.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on LEN. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lennar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.19.

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.