Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Lennar (NYSE:LEN)

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 12,510 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 120% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,683 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar during the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in Lennar in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of LEN traded down $1.98 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $85.17. The stock had a trading volume of 853,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,822,421. The company has a current ratio of 4.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $86.51 and its 200 day moving average is $92.54. Lennar has a 12-month low of $79.82 and a 12-month high of $144.24.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 11th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.07. Lennar had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 4.93%.The company had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Lennar will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LEN. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Lennar from $107.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Lennar from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Lennar from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Evercore boosted their price objective on Lennar from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and ten have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $92.13.

Lennar Company Profile

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) is a U.S.-based homebuilder and real estate company that designs, constructs and sells residential housing. The company offers a range of product types including single-family detached homes, townhomes and condominiums, serving buyers from entry-level and first-time purchasers to move-up, active-adult and luxury segments. Lennar also develops master-planned communities and manages land acquisition and entitlement activities that support its homebuilding operations.

In addition to home construction and sales, Lennar provides a suite of ancillary services intended to streamline the purchase process and capture additional value.