Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Releases Q2 Earnings Guidance

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) updated its second quarter earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $1.80-$2.00 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on LEN shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $141.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lennar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.53.

Lennar Trading Down 4.0 %

NYSE:LEN traded down $4.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $115.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,827,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,331,686. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Lennar has a twelve month low of $110.55 and a twelve month high of $187.61. The stock has a market cap of $30.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.44. Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Lennar will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Lennar stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 27.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,727 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.