New York Life Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

New York Life Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,095 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $4,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in Lennar by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in Lennar by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 234 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LEN. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Lennar from $170.00 to $152.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research cut Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.88.

Lennar Stock Down 0.6 %

LEN stock opened at $119.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $31.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s 50 day moving average is $130.70 and its 200 day moving average is $159.40. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Lennar Co. has a 1-year low of $117.90 and a 1-year high of $193.80.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

About Lennar

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.