Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LEN. Barclays reduced their price objective on Lennar from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lennar from $164.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Lennar from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Lennar from $122.00 to $98.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.50.

Lennar Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of LEN stock opened at $110.77 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $107.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.63. The company has a current ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Lennar has a 12-month low of $98.42 and a 12-month high of $187.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.34.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $8.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Lennar will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.54%.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEN. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,115 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 13,100 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,786,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.