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

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $180.56.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Lennar Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of LEN stock opened at $169.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 4.90. Lennar has a 1 year low of $125.17 and a 1 year high of $193.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $178.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.20.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.14 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Lennar will post 14.18 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 42.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 21.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 23,775 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,089,000 after buying an additional 4,207 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 23,048.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,209,000 after purchasing an additional 149,812 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $477,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in Lennar during the first quarter worth about $996,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Lennar by 91.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,318 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,456,000 after buying an additional 6,824 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.