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

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $151.07.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LEN shares. Bank of America cut their price target on Lennar from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. BTIG Research cut shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $158.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEN. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,116,558 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $834,115,000 after buying an additional 213,003 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Lennar by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $446,110,000 after acquiring an additional 589,553 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Lennar by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,239,488 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $441,769,000 after acquiring an additional 515,378 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $308,696,000 after purchasing an additional 397,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter worth $218,533,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lennar Stock Performance

NYSE LEN opened at $118.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.79. Lennar has a 1-year low of $111.26 and a 1-year high of $187.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $31.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.44 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s payout ratio is currently 14.57%.

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.