Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) Short Interest Up 12.7% in April

Key Points

• Short interest rose 12.7% in April to 12,559,277 shares (about 5.7% of shares sold short), with a days-to-cover ratio of 3.9.
• Analysts have trimmed price targets and ratings—MarketBeat shows 1 Buy, 10 Hold and 8 Sell, with an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $99.87.
• Lennar missed quarterly EPS ($0.88 vs. $0.95 expected) and reported revenue down 13.3% year-over-year, while declaring a $0.50 quarterly dividend (annualized $2.00, ~2.2% yield).

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 12,559,277 shares, an increase of 12.7% from the March 31st total of 11,140,413 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,254,291 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days. Approximately 5.7% of the company's shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Lennar from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $113.00 to $104.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Lennar from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $99.87.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of LEN stock opened at $90.38 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.36. Lennar has a twelve month low of $83.03 and a twelve month high of $144.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The construction company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.07). Lennar had a return on equity of 7.80% and a net margin of 5.39%.The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.14 EPS. Lennar's revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Lennar will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. Lennar's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,732,654 shares of the construction company's stock worth $596,504,000 after purchasing an additional 603,004 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 86.7% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company's stock worth $279,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,068 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,127,225 shares of the construction company's stock worth $218,681,000 after purchasing an additional 228,247 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 1,963,373 shares of the construction company's stock worth $201,835,000 after purchasing an additional 934,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Lennar by 7.0% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,154,892 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $145,563,000 after acquiring an additional 75,574 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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