Armistice Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Lennar Corporation $LEN

Key Points

• Armistice Capital LLC has acquired a new position in Lennar Corporation, purchasing 35,000 shares valued at approximately $4.02 million.
• Analysts have recently cut their price targets for Lennar, with updates from Barclays lowering it to $95.00 and Evercore ISI to $114.00, while there are 14 hold ratings and one strong buy rating.
• Lennar announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing a 1.5% yield, with a payout ratio of 16.54%.

Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 35,000 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $4,017,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 45.4% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,894,125 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,020,866,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,567 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter worth $218,533,000. Eminence Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 685,225 shares of the construction company's stock worth $93,444,000 after acquiring an additional 207,343 shares during the period. Man Group plc boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 112.5% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 506,722 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $69,102,000 after acquiring an additional 268,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT grew its holdings in shares of Lennar by 17.8% in the first quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 466,752 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $53,574,000 after purchasing an additional 70,463 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $131.00 to $114.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on Lennar from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Lennar from $164.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lennar from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $128.85.

Lennar Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of LEN stock opened at $133.28 on Monday. Lennar Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $98.42 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $118.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 3.65.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 16th. The construction company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.04). Lennar had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The business had revenue of $8.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.45 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Lennar's payout ratio is 16.54%.

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.

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