Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.12 EPS

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The construction company reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 11.51%. Lennar’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.82 EPS.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $145.93 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Lennar has a fifty-two week low of $140.65 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80. The company has a market cap of $39.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.66, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $170.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.80.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports 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 report on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut shares of Lennar from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $210.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $182.88.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In related news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.36% 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.