Bristlecone Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,730 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lennar by 69.4% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Lennar in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in Lennar by 933.3% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 155 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Lennar in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on LEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.19.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $122.61 on Tuesday. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $121.40 and a 52-week high of $193.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $141.34 and a 200-day moving average of $164.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 4.71.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The business had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.82 EPS. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 12.52 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.95%.

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.