Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $163.88.

Several brokerages have issued reports on LEN. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Lennar from $161.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Lennar from $137.00 to $136.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 14th.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Amy Banse acquired 1,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,861,863. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 4.7% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,503 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 0.9% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 273,918 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,515 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 505.1% in the first quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 3,074 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 2,566 shares during the period. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 331.8% in the first quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services now owns 12,033 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,069,000 after purchasing an additional 9,246 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Lennar by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,882 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $159.46 on Friday. Lennar has a 52-week low of $102.90 and a 52-week high of $172.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 5.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.58. The firm has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.53.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.39 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.02%.

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.