Sapient Capital LLC Cuts Stock Position in Lennar Corporation $LEN

Key Points

• Sapient Capital cut its Lennar stake by 48.6% in the first quarter, selling 109,057 shares and retaining 115,560 shares valued at approximately $10.0 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 81.1% of Lennar.
• Wall Street sentiment is predominantly bearish: one analyst rates Lennar a Buy, seven rate it Hold, and ten rate it Sell. The stock has an average “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $92.80, while several firms recently lowered their targets.
• Lennar reported quarterly EPS of $1.31, beating estimates, but revenue fell 5.2% year over year to $7.94 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.50, equivalent to a 2.4% annualized yield.

Sapient Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) by 48.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 115,560 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 109,057 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in Lennar were worth $10,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LEN. Phillip James Consulting Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. High Point Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Lennar during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on LEN. UBS Group dropped their target price on Lennar from $107.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on Lennar from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Lennar from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Lennar from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and ten have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $92.80.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEN opened at $82.53 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 4.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $87.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.12. Lennar Corporation has a 12 month low of $79.82 and a 12 month high of $144.24.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 11th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.08 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 4.93%.Lennar's quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lennar Corporation will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Lennar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.30%.

About Lennar

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.

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