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

Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $196.00 to $150.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Lennar traded as low as $133.69 and last traded at $133.98, with a volume of 769954 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $135.06.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on LEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.31.

Insider Activity at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 42.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 9.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Lennar by 428.9% in the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 2,420,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $362,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,447 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the third quarter valued at approximately $115,229,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Lennar by 21.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 397,492 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 15.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021,856 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $452,886,000 after purchasing an additional 396,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 258.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 494,848 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,774,000 after buying an additional 356,731 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Down 0.9 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.30. The firm has a market cap of $36.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 4.90.

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). Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 14.11 EPS for the current year.

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.