Cim Investment Management Inc. Sells 7,747 Shares of Lennar Corporation $LEN

Cim Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 50.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,536 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 7,747 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Lennar were worth $950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lennar in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Lennar in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Lennar by 102.7% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 371 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar in the second quarter worth $47,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Lennar

Here are the key news stories impacting Lennar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several major brokers still show modest upside in their revised targets — UBS lowered its target to $107 (about a 10% upside to the current price), Citigroup lowered to $104 (~7% upside) and Wells Fargo to $100 (~3% upside). Those remaining above the market may be supporting buying interest. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: HousingWire ran an analysis of Lennar’s margin strategy — a deeper read on management’s approach to margins and pricing that could influence medium-term profitability but is ambiguous near-term for the stock. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly results disappointed: LEN reported $0.88 EPS vs. consensus ~ $0.96 and revenue of $6.62B vs. ~$6.88B — misses that typically pressure residential builders due to sensitivity to volumes and pricing. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple broker notes cut price targets and/or ratings — Barclays cut to $85 and set an underweight, Truist cut to $95 (hold), and other firms trimmed targets — signaling reduced near-term conviction from some sell-side analysts. Those downgrades increase downside risk for investors. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Local opposition to Lennar’s Hill Country developments is getting press attention; heightened community resistance and permitting/legal risks can slow or add cost to projects in key markets. Read More.

Lennar Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE LEN opened at $97.03 on Wednesday. Lennar Corporation has a 12 month low of $92.17 and a 12 month high of $144.24. The company has a current ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $112.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.01. The stock has a market cap of $23.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Lennar from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Lennar from $122.00 to $107.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $115.00 to $80.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Lennar to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $102.79.

Lennar 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.