Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $163.88.

LEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lennar from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Lennar from $137.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 14th.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $152.49 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 5.47. Lennar has a 52-week low of $102.90 and a 52-week high of $172.59.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.36. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 11.59%. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Lennar will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In related news, Director Amy Banse acquired 1,575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $157.00 per share, for a total transaction of $247,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,861,863. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Lennar by 551.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,824,684 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $191,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544,432 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Lennar by 6,297.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 662,277 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $98,706,000 after acquiring an additional 651,924 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Lennar by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,501,257 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $168,486,000 after acquiring an additional 484,056 shares during the period. Duquesne Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,991,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 236.0% in the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 229,341 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $24,106,000 after buying an additional 397,951 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.