Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Stock Price Up 6.6% – Time to Buy?

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) shares traded up 6.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $82.30 and last traded at $82.7920. 2,025,010 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 3,257,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Benchmark upgraded shares of Lennar to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and eleven have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $79.00.

Lennar Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 4.94 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.36.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 16th. The construction company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). Lennar had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Lennar Corporation will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 7th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.81%.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 1,708,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $79.44 per share, with a total value of $135,691,066.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,438,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,118,294.80. This represents a 6.39% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 7,502,276 shares of company stock valued at $595,303,287. 10.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sepio Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 17.9% in the third quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 40,552 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Investment House LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lennar by 162.2% in the third quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 17,488 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 10,819 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Lennar by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,013 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Element Pointe Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lennar by 288.5% during the 3rd quarter. Element Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 20,200 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,648,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Lennar by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,024 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) is a homebuilding and real estate company that develops, constructs, and sells primarily single-family homes. The company offers homes across a range of price points and designs, including residences for first-time, move-up, luxury, and active-adult buyers. Its operations also include land acquisition and development, allowing Lennar to prepare communities and lots for residential construction.

In addition to homebuilding, Lennar develops multifamily rental properties and provides related financial services.