Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Sunday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on LEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Lennar from $157.00 to $154.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on Lennar from $177.00 to $175.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Lennar from $237.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James cut shares of Lennar from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an outperform rating and set a $183.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $169.13.

Lennar Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of LEN traded down $4.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $170.39. 2,827,113 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,164,995. The company has a current ratio of 4.93, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Lennar has a 1-year low of $102.90 and a 1-year high of $182.53. The company has a market cap of $46.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $157.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.80.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 17th. The construction company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.57 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.58% and a return on equity of 15.93%. Research analysts expect that Lennar will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 5th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total transaction of $1,627,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,927,938.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total value of $1,627,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 128,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,927,938.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.88, for a total value of $1,512,938.88. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 16,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,707.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,176 shares of company stock worth $4,841,039. 9.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Lennar by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Lennar by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,448 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Lakewood Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Lennar by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,385 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 4,870 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $730,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lennar by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.