Short Interest in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Increases By 7.9%

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,040,000 shares, a growth of 7.9% from the September 30th total of 4,670,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,830,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Lennar Stock Performance

NYSE:LEN traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $170.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,605,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,058,228. The business’s fifty day moving average is $181.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.45. The stock has a market cap of $46.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.61. Lennar has a 1 year low of $104.68 and a 1 year high of $193.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.90 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.28. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 11.51%. The company had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.91 earnings per share. Lennar’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 14.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEN. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in Lennar by 51.4% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 271 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lennar by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,431 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,622,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lennar in the 1st quarter worth about $5,592,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the first quarter valued at approximately $689,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 2.8% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,534 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LEN. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Lennar from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $180.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.11.

Lennar Company Profile

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.