Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12), Briefing.com reports. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.82 earnings per share. Lennar’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Lennar Trading Down 3.7 %

Lennar stock traded down $5.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $145.93. The stock had a trading volume of 4,495,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,060,597. Lennar has a 52-week low of $140.65 and a 52-week high of $193.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $171.26 and a 200 day moving average of $169.97. The firm has a market cap of $39.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 13.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total value of $3,064,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LEN shares. Barclays downgraded shares of Lennar from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Lennar from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Lennar from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.88.

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.