Lennar Corporation $LEN is Smead Capital Management Inc.’s 8th Largest Position

Smead Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 7.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,948,849 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 149,057 shares during the quarter. Lennar accounts for approximately 4.7% of Smead Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Smead Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.76% of Lennar worth $245,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Lennar in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the third quarter worth $26,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar during the 2nd quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on LEN shares. Evercore lowered Lennar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $114.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Lennar from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Argus raised shares of Lennar to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

Lennar Stock Up 0.2%

LEN stock opened at $116.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.02. The company has a current ratio of 4.89, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Lennar Corporation has a twelve month low of $98.42 and a twelve month high of $144.24.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 16th. The construction company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.27). Lennar had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 6.08%.The company had revenue of $9.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.03 EPS. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. Lennar’s payout ratio is 25.03%.

Lennar Company Profile

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) is a U.S.-based homebuilder and real estate company that designs, constructs and sells residential housing. The company offers a range of product types including single-family detached homes, townhomes and condominiums, serving buyers from entry-level and first-time purchasers to move-up, active-adult and luxury segments. Lennar also develops master-planned communities and manages land acquisition and entitlement activities that support its homebuilding operations.

In addition to home construction and sales, Lennar provides a suite of ancillary services intended to streamline the purchase process and capture additional value.