Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Updates Q1 Earnings Guidance

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) updated its first quarter earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.60-$1.80 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $2.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Lennar from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their target price on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lennar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.88.

Lennar Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of LEN stock traded down $7.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $138.87. The stock had a trading volume of 4,043,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,068,657. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.90 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Lennar has a 12-month low of $135.21 and a 12-month high of $193.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $170.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.80.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by ($0.12). Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Lennar will post 14.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s payout ratio is 13.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This trade represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.