Sippican Capital Advisors Sells 255 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Sippican Capital Advisors reduced its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,126 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 255 shares during the quarter. Lennar makes up approximately 1.7% of Sippican Capital Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Sippican Capital Advisors’ holdings in Lennar were worth $2,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LEN. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lennar by 23,048.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,209,000 after purchasing an additional 149,812 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 3.5% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $499,991,000 after purchasing an additional 89,896 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 147.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 69,226 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,978,000 after purchasing an additional 41,264 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $900,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lennar by 101.2% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 4,363 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research downgraded Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $210.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.38.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $132.11 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.92. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $128.41 and a 52-week high of $193.80. 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 $35.83 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.66.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.