StockNews.com Downgrades Lennar (NYSE:LEN) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

LEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an underperform rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $183.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Lennar from $157.00 to $154.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. BTIG Research dropped their price target on shares of Lennar from $177.00 to $175.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $237.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $169.13.

Lennar Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE LEN opened at $170.61 on Monday. Lennar has a 1 year low of $102.90 and a 1 year high of $182.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.60. 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 moving average is $160.11 and its 200 day moving average is $158.93.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 1.17%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is 13.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In related news, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 16,768 shares in the company, valued at $2,764,707.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LEN. Maplelane Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 43.6% in the 2nd quarter. Maplelane Capital LLC now owns 290,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $43,462,000 after acquiring an additional 88,000 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,659,000. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,004,000. Eminence Capital LP increased its position in shares of Lennar by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 655,368 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $98,220,000 after purchasing an additional 83,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in Lennar by 183.7% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 29,345 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,104,000 after buying an additional 19,000 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.