Brokerages Set Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Price Target at $180.56

Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $184.29.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zelman & Associates raised Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their price target on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Lennar Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:LEN opened at $174.16 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $177.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.56. Lennar has a 12-month low of $125.17 and a 12-month high of $193.80. The company has a current ratio of 4.90, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $47.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Lennar’s payout ratio is currently 13.25%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Lennar by 1.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,903,555 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,106,798,000 after buying an additional 73,638 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021,856 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $452,886,000 after acquiring an additional 396,951 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Lennar by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,991,000 after purchasing an additional 89,896 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. boosted its stake in Lennar by 428.9% during the 2nd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 2,420,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $362,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,447 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Lennar by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,015,641 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $302,084,000 after purchasing an additional 348,553 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.