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

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $141.54, but opened at $136.01. Lennar shares last traded at $134.93, with a volume of 778,702 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BTIG Research downgraded Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.50.

Lennar Trading Down 1.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $36.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $151.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.19. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is 13.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 42.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 9.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lennar by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in Lennar in the third quarter worth $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in Lennar by 933.3% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 155 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. 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.