Short Interest in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Expands By 16.0%

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,970,000 shares, a growth of 16.0% from the February 13th total of 7,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,260,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 4.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $158.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $152.00 to $141.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.53.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,533,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the third quarter valued at approximately $115,229,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Lennar by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,110,000 after purchasing an additional 589,553 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Lennar by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,239,488 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $441,769,000 after purchasing an additional 515,378 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Lennar by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $308,696,000 after purchasing an additional 397,492 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE LEN traded up $2.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $120.55. The company had a trading volume of 3,082,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,313,868. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $126.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.42. 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 company has a market capitalization of $32.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. Lennar has a 12-month low of $115.61 and a 12-month high of $187.61.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. Lennar’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lennar will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s payout ratio is presently 13.95%.

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.