Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Declares $0.50 Quarterly Dividend

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the construction company on Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd.

Lennar has increased its dividend by an average of 33.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Lennar has a dividend payout ratio of 12.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Lennar to earn $16.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.3%.

Lennar Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $150.19 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.80 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 5.47 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $159.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.78. Lennar has a 52-week low of $102.90 and a 52-week high of $172.59.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Amy Banse bought 1,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $157.00 per share, for a total transaction of $247,275.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,861,863. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its holdings in Lennar by 494.4% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 737 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lennar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $104,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LEN shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $224.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.88.

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.