Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on LEN. Royal Bank of Canada restated an underperform rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an outperform rating and issued a $183.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. BTIG Research lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $177.00 to $175.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Wedbush raised shares of Lennar from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $144.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lennar from $157.00 to $154.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennar presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $169.13.

Lennar Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:LEN opened at $172.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.94. Lennar has a fifty-two week low of $102.90 and a fifty-two week high of $182.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Lennar news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total transaction of $1,627,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,629 shares in the company, valued at $20,927,938.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lennar news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total transaction of $1,627,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 128,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,927,938.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.88, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,176 shares of company stock valued at $4,841,039 over the last ninety days. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Lennar by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Lennar by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,448 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Lennar by 0.8% during the second quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,385 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in Lennar by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 4,870 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $730,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lennar by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.