Boston Partners Sells 400,591 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Boston Partners decreased its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,551,024 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 400,591 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned 0.96% of Lennar worth $347,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter worth about $5,400,000. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 4,818 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 458.8% in the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 447 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 37,654 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,135,000 after acquiring an additional 4,889 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Lennar by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,377 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of LEN stock opened at $119.00 on Tuesday. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $115.61 and a 52-week high of $187.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 4.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $127.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.87.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. Lennar’s revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LEN. Wolfe Research lowered Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Lennar from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Lennar from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.53.

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.