Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.39 EPS

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The construction company reported $3.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.39, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $8.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.49 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 12.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.18 EPS. Lennar updated its Q4 guidance to $4.40-4.75 EPS and its Q4 2023 guidance to $4.40-$4.75 EPS.

Lennar Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:LEN opened at $114.76 on Friday. Lennar has a 12-month low of $69.90 and a 12-month high of $133.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.50. The company has a market capitalization of $32.98 billion, a PE ratio of 7.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 7.09, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 6th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 10,790 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $1,310,553.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 270,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,861,731.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.48, for a total value of $1,264,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,882,501.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 10,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $1,310,553.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 270,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,861,731.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 2,634 shares of company stock worth $321,855. 9.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEN. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 551.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,824,684 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $191,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544,432 shares in the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,991,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Lennar by 236.0% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 229,341 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $24,106,000 after purchasing an additional 397,951 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Lennar by 94.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 667,414 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,401,000 after purchasing an additional 323,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Lennar by 65.5% during the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 790,021 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $64,127,000 after purchasing an additional 312,595 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Lennar in a research note on Wednesday, May 31st. They issued a “sell” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James raised Lennar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, July 14th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Lennar from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Lennar from $127.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Lennar from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.56.

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.