Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Lennar from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the company from $180.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $183.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Lennar from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $157.00 to $154.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $177.00 to $175.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $167.88.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN stock opened at $180.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $49.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.60. Lennar has a 52 week low of $102.90 and a 52 week high of $181.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $156.70 and a 200-day moving average of $157.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 4.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. Lennar’s payout ratio is currently 13.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lennar news, Executive Vice Preident Jeffrey Joseph McCall sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.11, for a total value of $1,701,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 118,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,179,979.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Executive Vice Preident Jeffrey Joseph McCall sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.11, for a total value of $1,701,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,179,979.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.88, for a total value of $1,512,938.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 16,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,764,707.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,176 shares of company stock worth $4,841,039 over the last 90 days. 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 stock. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Lennar by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,760,729 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $303,585,000 after acquiring an additional 60,713 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $231,067,000 after purchasing an additional 8,008 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY raised its holdings in Lennar by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 648,867 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $111,592,000 after buying an additional 23,483 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. boosted its position in Lennar by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 610,549 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $91,503,000 after buying an additional 83,896 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lennar by 157.5% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 575,003 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $98,889,000 after acquiring an additional 351,698 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.