Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on LEN. Wedbush upgraded shares of Lennar from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $144.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Raymond James downgraded Lennar from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an outperform rating and issued a $183.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Lennar from $237.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $167.88.

Lennar Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE LEN opened at $176.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $156.05 and its 200-day moving average is $156.88. Lennar has a one year low of $102.90 and a one year high of $178.75. The firm has a market cap of $48.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.60.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.57 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.58% and a return on equity of 15.93%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lennar news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total value of $1,627,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,927,938.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 16,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,764,707.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total value of $1,627,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 128,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,927,938.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,176 shares of company stock valued at $4,841,039 over the last 90 days. 9.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lennar by 484.0% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lennar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Lennar by 223.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 233 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 161 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.