Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $141.54, but opened at $136.01. Lennar shares last traded at $134.93, with a volume of 778,702 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LEN shares. Zelman & Associates raised Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.50.

Lennar Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $36.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $152.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.82 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total value of $3,064,775.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 8.3% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,587 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lennar by 9.5% in the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lennar by 6.8% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 43,459 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,513,000 after acquiring an additional 2,769 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $442,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 21.8% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 29,698 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,318 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.