Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN – Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $137.00 to $136.00. The stock had previously closed at $165.50, but opened at $161.80. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Lennar shares last traded at $158.80, with a volume of 811,309 shares trading hands.
LEN has been the subject of a number of other reports. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Lennar from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Lennar in a report on Monday, November 27th. They set a “hold” rating and a $117.00 target price for the company. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Lennar from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lennar from $132.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.88.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total transaction of $1,477,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 260,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,491,937.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Mark Sustana sold 37,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.38, for a total transaction of $5,460,559.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,694 shares in the company, valued at $2,736,427.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total value of $1,477,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 260,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,491,937.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Trading of Lennar
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,544,345 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $734,477,000 after buying an additional 366,983 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Lennar by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,681,233 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $399,611,000 after acquiring an additional 79,217 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Lennar by 551.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,824,684 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $191,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544,432 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,700,016 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $253,319,000 after purchasing an additional 72,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lennar by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,550,371 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $231,067,000 after buying an additional 8,008 shares during the last quarter. 79.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Lennar Price Performance
The company has a market capitalization of $42.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 6.12, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.88.
Lennar (NYSE:LEN – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The construction company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.36. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.84%. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.
Lennar Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 24th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 23rd. This is a boost from Lennar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is 14.53%.
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.