Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Shares Gap Up to $151.88

Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $151.88, but opened at $156.30. Lennar shares last traded at $154.70, with a volume of 303,420 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Lennar from $161.00 to $157.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $224.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $163.88.

Lennar Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 5.47. The stock has a market cap of $42.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.53. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $159.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.03.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lennar's dividend payout ratio is 14.02%.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Amy Banse purchased 1,575 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $157.00 per share, for a total transaction of $247,275.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,859 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,863. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 9.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Coastline Trust Co grew its holdings in Lennar by 80.8% during the fourth quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 24,515 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,654,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Lennar by 6,297.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 662,277 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $98,706,000 after purchasing an additional 651,924 shares during the period. PGGM Investments grew its holdings in Lennar by 16.3% during the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 88,872 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $9,974,000 after purchasing an additional 12,469 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,367,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in Lennar by 7.0% during the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,808 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company's stock.

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.