Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Sunday morning.

LEN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Lennar from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $180.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Lennar from $157.00 to $154.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an underperform rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, BTIG Research cut their price objective on shares of Lennar from $177.00 to $175.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $169.13.

Lennar Trading Up 0.9 %

Lennar stock opened at $172.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.60. Lennar has a 1 year low of $102.90 and a 1 year high of $182.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $158.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 4.93.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 17th. The construction company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.18. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 11.58%. The business had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.57 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Lennar will post 14.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. Lennar’s payout ratio is presently 13.60%.

Insider Activity at Lennar

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total transaction of $1,627,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,927,938.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.88, for a total value of $1,512,938.88. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 16,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,707.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total transaction of $1,627,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,927,938.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,176 shares of company stock worth $4,841,039. 9.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 484.0% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Lennar during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 223.6% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 233 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

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.