Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $120.07, but opened at $112.97. Lennar shares last traded at $112.56, with a volume of 1,569,496 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on LEN. Barclays dropped their price objective on Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BTIG Research cut Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Fourteen research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.53.

Lennar Trading Down 4.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $126.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.31. The company has a market capitalization of $30.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.44 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Lennar’s payout ratio is presently 13.95%.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 204,431 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,878,000 after buying an additional 1,515 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,149 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Cim LLC grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 29,702 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,050,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter worth $17,586,000. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

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.