Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) Receives Average Recommendation of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Lennar has a consensus analyst rating of “Reduce” from 18 brokerages, with 10 sell ratings, seven hold ratings, and one buy rating. The average 12-month price target is $92.80.
• Several firms recently turned more bearish on the stock, including Barclays cutting its target to $79 and Zacks downgrading Lennar to “strong sell.” Seaport also reaffirmed a sell rating while slashing its target from $140 to $74.
• Lennar recently beat quarterly EPS estimates with $1.31 per share versus expectations of $1.24, but revenue fell 5.2% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, implying a 2.3% annual yield.

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $92.80.

Several research firms have commented on LEN. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 15th. BTIG Research set a $67.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lennar from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Lennar in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. acquired a new position in Lennar during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. High Point Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lennar during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Lennar during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company's stock.

Lennar Stock Performance

LEN opened at $85.44 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 4.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Lennar has a 12-month low of $81.18 and a 12-month high of $144.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $88.35 and a 200-day moving average of $98.09. The stock has a market cap of $20.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.38.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 11th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.07. Lennar had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 4.93%.The business had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lennar will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Lennar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.30%.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation NYSE: LEN is a U.S.-based homebuilder and real estate company that designs, constructs and sells residential housing. The company offers a range of product types including single-family detached homes, townhomes and condominiums, serving buyers from entry-level and first-time purchasers to move-up, active-adult and luxury segments. Lennar also develops master-planned communities and manages land acquisition and entitlement activities that support its homebuilding operations.

In addition to home construction and sales, Lennar provides a suite of ancillary services intended to streamline the purchase process and capture additional value.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.