Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 8,445,101 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 143% from the previous session’s volume of 3,471,472 shares.The stock last traded at $116.2610 and had previously closed at $115.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $122.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Lennar from $97.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Lennar from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.75.

Lennar Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.40. The firm has a market cap of $29.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 4.49 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.01 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 7.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Lennar’s payout ratio is 19.76%.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lennar by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 2.3% in the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 9,923 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Lennar by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,725 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 142,494 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,355,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Lennar in the first quarter valued at approximately $810,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.