Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Hits New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) 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.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Lennar from $210.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Lennar from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note 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, Lennar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.50.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Lennar in the third quarter valued at approximately $115,229,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Lennar by 22.0% in 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. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Lennar by 21.4% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Lennar by 258.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 494,848 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,774,000 after purchasing an additional 356,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Lennar by 23,048.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,209,000 after purchasing an additional 149,812 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Down 4.5 %

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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.24. The stock has a market cap of $33.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.67.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 posted $4.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 12.52 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.