Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $226,000 Stock Position in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC significantly reduced its stake in Lennar Corporation by 95.2%, selling 38,892 shares and retaining only 1,968 shares, which were valued at $226,000.
• Analysts have lowered their price targets for Lennar, with UBS reducing theirs from $164.00 to $146.00, indicating a generally cautious outlook on the stock.
• Lennar recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $2.00 and a yield of 1.7%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) by 95.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,968 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 38,892 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Lennar were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LEN. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Lennar by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,116,558 shares of the construction company's stock worth $834,115,000 after purchasing an additional 213,003 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter worth $218,533,000. Eminence Capital LP grew its position in 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 last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its position in Lennar by 67.3% during the 4th quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 672,433 shares of the construction company's stock worth $88,116,000 after acquiring an additional 270,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc grew its position in Lennar by 112.5% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 506,722 shares of the construction company's stock worth $69,102,000 after acquiring an additional 268,209 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lennar Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:LEN traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $119.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,507,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,994,833. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88, a PEG ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 3.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $111.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.68. Lennar Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $98.42 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 16th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $8.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Lennar's dividend payout ratio is 16.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Lennar from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Lennar from $131.00 to $114.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Zelman & Associates lowered Lennar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Lennar from $122.00 to $98.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $128.85.

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.