Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $184.29.

LEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities increased their target price on Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their target price on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $144.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Lennar from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th.

Lennar Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $174.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.90, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.33 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $176.77 and its 200-day moving average is $169.68. Lennar has a 1 year low of $125.17 and a 1 year high of $193.80.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.28. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The firm had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Lennar will post 14.18 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s payout ratio is 13.25%.

Insider Activity at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total value of $3,064,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at $4,148,654.57. This trade represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 9.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its position in Lennar by 428.9% during the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 2,420,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $362,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,447 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter worth about $115,229,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Lennar by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021,856 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $452,886,000 after purchasing an additional 396,951 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Lennar during the first quarter worth about $61,807,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Lennar by 258.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 494,848 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $92,774,000 after buying an additional 356,731 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

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.