Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $110.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Lennar traded as low as $101.73 and last traded at $103.01, with a volume of 5683584 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $107.08.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wolfe Research cut Lennar from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Lennar from $141.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Lennar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Lennar from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.07.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,533,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Lennar by 22.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Lennar by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,239,488 shares of the construction company's stock worth $441,769,000 after buying an additional 515,378 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 21.4% during 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 buying an additional 397,492 shares during the period. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 67.3% in the fourth quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 672,433 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $88,116,000 after acquiring an additional 270,433 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Up 0.3 %

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 company has a market capitalization of $27.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.36, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $118.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.73.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.44 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. Lennar's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Lennar's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.57%.

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.