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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

LEN has been the topic of several other reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Lennar from $237.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Lennar from $157.00 to $154.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Wedbush upgraded Lennar from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $144.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an underperform rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $166.88.

Lennar Stock Performance

NYSE:LEN opened at $170.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 4.93, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $155.34 and its 200-day moving average is $156.06. Lennar has a 1-year low of $102.90 and a 1-year high of $177.79.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.57 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 14.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. Lennar’s payout ratio is currently 13.60%.

Insider Activity at Lennar

In related news, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 16,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,707.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 16,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,707.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Executive Vice Preident Jeffrey Joseph McCall sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,179,979.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,176 shares of company stock valued at $4,841,039. 9.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lennar by 484.0% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Lennar during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lennar during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 223.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 233 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.