Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $174.09, but opened at $161.75. Lennar shares last traded at $163.46, with a volume of 522,880 shares changing hands.

Specifically, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LEN. Wells Fargo & Company cut Lennar from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $205.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $144.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Lennar from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.11.

Lennar Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $46.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 4.90.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 14.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 13.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LEN. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Lennar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the third quarter worth $30,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Lennar in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 4,225.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 173 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.