Fulcrum Asset Management LLP Acquires New Holdings in Lennar Corporation $LEN

Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,539 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,454,000. Lennar accounts for approximately 1.0% of Fulcrum Asset Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 14.6% during the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,732,654 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $596,504,000 after acquiring an additional 603,004 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 86.7% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $279,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,068 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lennar by 7.0% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,154,892 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $145,563,000 after purchasing an additional 75,574 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Lennar by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 702,872 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $77,745,000 after purchasing an additional 29,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Lennar by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 578,927 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $72,968,000 after buying an additional 168,196 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Lennar from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Evercore lowered Lennar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $114.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on 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 report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $102.79.

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 Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:LEN opened at $97.03 on Wednesday. Lennar Corporation has a 1 year low of $92.17 and a 1 year high of $144.24. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $112.14 and its 200-day moving average is $119.01. The company has a market capitalization of $23.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

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

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.