Short Interest in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Expands By 7.9%

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) saw a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,040,000 shares, an increase of 7.9% from the September 30th total of 4,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in Lennar by 51.4% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 271 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Lennar by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,431 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,622,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Lennar in the 1st quarter valued at $5,592,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the first quarter worth $689,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Lennar by 2.8% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,534 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Lennar from $154.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com lowered Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their price objective on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.11.

Lennar Stock Performance

NYSE:LEN traded down $1.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $170.30. 1,605,699 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,058,228. The company has a current ratio of 4.90, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $181.65 and a 200 day moving average of $167.45. Lennar has a twelve month low of $104.68 and a twelve month high of $193.80.

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

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.60%.

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.