Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $163.88.

LEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $137.00 to $136.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $138.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Lennar from $179.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Friday, March 15th.

Insider Activity

In other Lennar news, Director Amy Banse acquired 1,575 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $157.00 per share, for a total transaction of $247,275.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,859 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,861,863. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 9.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Lennar by 551.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,824,684 shares of the construction company's stock worth $191,793,000 after buying an additional 1,544,432 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 6,297.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 662,277 shares of the construction company's stock worth $98,706,000 after purchasing an additional 651,924 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Lennar by 47.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,501,257 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $168,486,000 after purchasing an additional 484,056 shares during the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC bought a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter valued at $39,991,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its position in Lennar by 236.0% in the first quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 229,341 shares of the construction company's stock worth $24,106,000 after buying an additional 397,951 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Stock Performance

Lennar stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $159.90. The company had a trading volume of 2,348,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,108,134. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 5.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $44.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.55 and a 200-day moving average of $140.90. Lennar has a 52 week low of $102.90 and a 52 week high of $172.59.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.39 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 11.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. Lennar's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lennar will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Lennar's payout ratio is 14.02%.

About Lennar

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.