Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Hits New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $91.55 and last traded at $91.9370, with a volume of 566171 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $93.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus raised Lennar to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Lennar from $115.00 to $80.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lennar from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lennar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lennar has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

Lennar Stock Down 3.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 4.77 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $22.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.67.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The construction company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The business’s revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEN. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lennar by 73.9% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,702 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after acquiring an additional 4,548 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $441,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the second quarter valued at $215,000. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 993.0% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 129,487 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $16,321,000 after buying an additional 117,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Lennar by 4.3% during the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 702,872 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $77,745,000 after buying an additional 29,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Company Profile

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.