Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Short Interest Down 11.2% in September

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,670,000 shares, a drop of 11.2% from the September 15th total of 5,260,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Lennar Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:LEN traded up $3.37 on Wednesday, hitting $188.41. 1,360,280 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,056,604. The company has a market cap of $51.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $180.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.90 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Lennar has a 52 week low of $102.90 and a 52 week high of $193.80.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.28. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 11.51%. The firm had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Lennar will post 14.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LEN. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Lennar by 428.9% during the second 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021,856 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $452,886,000 after acquiring an additional 396,951 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in Lennar in the 1st quarter valued at $61,807,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Lennar by 157.5% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 575,003 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $98,889,000 after purchasing an additional 351,698 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Lennar by 20.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,015,641 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $302,084,000 after purchasing an additional 348,553 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on LEN shares. Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their price objective on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James lowered shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $154.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Lennar from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Lennar from $177.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.11.

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.