Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Stock Price Up 1.5% – Should You Buy?

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) shares traded up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $107.85 and last traded at $110.04. 281,093 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 2,487,632 shares. The stock had previously closed at $108.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Lennar from $141.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.07.

Lennar Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. 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 (NYSE:LEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s payout ratio is currently 14.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 69.4% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Lennar

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.