Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $150.07.

LEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lennar from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Lennar from $141.00 to $128.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Lennar from $121.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in Lennar by 69.4% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Lennar in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company's stock.

Lennar Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:LEN traded down $1.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $107.72. The company had a trading volume of 2,130,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,562,908. The company has a market capitalization of $28.42 billion, a PE ratio of 7.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. Lennar has a one year low of $98.42 and a one year high of $187.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $114.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.57 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lennar will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Lennar's payout ratio is 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.