Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Underperform” Rating for Lennar (NYSE:LEN)

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their underperform rating on shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $145.00 target price on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an outperform rating and issued a $183.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Lennar from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $168.07.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $149.19 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.78. The company has a current ratio of 4.93, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Lennar has a 1-year low of $102.90 and a 1-year high of $172.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.56.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.60%.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other news, Director Amy Banse bought 1,575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,861,863. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.88, for a total transaction of $1,512,938.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 16,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,764,707.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Amy Banse bought 1,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,861,863. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 29,176 shares of company stock valued at $4,841,039 in the last ninety days. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in Lennar by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Lennar by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,448 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC raised its stake in Lennar by 1.7% in the first quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 4,554 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in Lennar by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 8,361 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in Lennar by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,847 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.