Lennar’s (LEN) “Market Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reiterated their market perform rating on shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $170.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lennar from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $160.31.

Lennar Price Performance

LEN stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $156.61. The company had a trading volume of 2,022,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,169,050. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 5.47 and a quick ratio of 1.72. Lennar has a 1 year low of $100.95 and a 1 year high of $167.49. The company has a market capitalization of $43.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $154.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.81.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.36. Lennar had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 24th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 23rd. This is an increase from Lennar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

Insider Activity at Lennar

In related news, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total transaction of $1,477,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 260,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,491,937.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Mark Sustana sold 37,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.38, for a total transaction of $5,460,559.52. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,736,427.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total transaction of $1,477,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 260,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,491,937.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 6,388 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 88,872 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,974,000 after purchasing an additional 12,469 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,808 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Allen Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 155.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 6,666 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 4,061 shares during the period. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $360,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.87% of the company’s stock.

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.