Swiss National Bank Decreases Position in Lennar Corporation $LEN

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 6.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 656,072 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 46,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Lennar were worth $82,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Lennar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Lennar by 102.7% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 371 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar in the second quarter worth $47,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of LEN stock opened at $98.78 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $113.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.36. Lennar Corporation has a 12-month low of $96.40 and a 12-month high of $144.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.43. 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 (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 16th. The construction company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $9.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 6.08%.The business’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.03 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LEN shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Lennar from $133.00 to $113.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Argus upgraded Lennar to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Evercore lowered shares of Lennar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $114.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (down from $125.00) on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lennar has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.14.

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.