Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Lennar Corporation by 6.0%, now owning approximately 162,557 shares valued at around $18.7 million.
• Several analysts have updated their price targets for Lennar, with the consensus now averaging at $128.85, while ratings vary from sell to strong buy.
• Lennar recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.90 per share, missing expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, reflecting a 1.7% dividend yield.

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,557 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 10,405 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Lennar worth $18,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter worth $218,533,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in Lennar in the 1st quarter worth $41,788,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Lennar in the first quarter valued at about $37,055,000. D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 67.3% during the fourth quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 672,433 shares of the construction company's stock worth $88,116,000 after buying an additional 270,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc increased its position in Lennar by 112.5% during the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $131.00 to $114.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Lennar from $122.00 to $98.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Lennar from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on Lennar from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $128.85.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN traded up $1.47 on Tuesday, reaching $120.24. 3,020,007 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,995,623. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $110.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.64. Lennar Corporation has a 52-week low of $98.42 and a 52-week high of $193.80. The stock has a market cap of $31.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a PEG ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Lennar Announces Dividend

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

Lennar 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.