Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Lennar's share price opened at $136.00 after previously closing at $130.45, indicating a notable gap up before the market opened.
• Analyst ratings for the stock are mixed, with a consensus of "Hold" and an average price target of $128.85, while one analyst rated it a sell.
• Lennar reported earnings of $1.90 per share for the last quarter, which missed expectations, although the company had significant revenue of $8.38 billion.

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $130.45, but opened at $136.00. Lennar shares last traded at $132.21, with a volume of 953,735 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LEN shares. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $122.00 to $98.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JMP Securities decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $128.00 to $114.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Lennar has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $128.85.

Lennar Price Performance

The business's 50 day moving average is $113.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.24. The firm has a market cap of $34.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 3.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 16th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.04). Lennar had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The company had revenue of $8.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Lennar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lennar during the first quarter worth about $30,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Lennar during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Lennar by 611.9% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 299 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Lennar in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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