Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV cut its holdings in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 69.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 152,943 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 341,905 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned about 0.06% of Lennar worth $20,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Lennar during the third quarter valued at approximately $115,229,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 397,492 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lennar by 23,048.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,209,000 after buying an additional 149,812 shares in the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP grew its position in Lennar by 68.6% during the third quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 288,661 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $54,118,000 after buying an additional 117,430 shares during the period. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $499,991,000 after buying an additional 89,896 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Lennar from $210.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Lennar from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.38.

Lennar Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE LEN opened at $136.09 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.09. 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 firm has a market cap of $36.91 billion, a PE ratio of 9.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.66. Lennar Co. has a 52 week low of $128.41 and a 52 week high of $193.80.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

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.