Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) Short Interest Up 12.7% in April

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 12,559,277 shares, a growth of 12.7% from the March 31st total of 11,140,413 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,254,291 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Currently, 5.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Lennar Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:LEN opened at $90.38 on Friday. Lennar has a 52-week low of $83.03 and a 52-week high of $144.24. The stock has a market cap of $22.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 4.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.36.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The construction company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.07). Lennar had a return on equity of 7.80% and a net margin of 5.39%.The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Lennar will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEN. Viking Global Investors LP raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 86.7% during the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $279,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,068 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 90.9% during the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 1,963,373 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $201,835,000 after purchasing an additional 934,856 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter worth $95,941,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in Lennar by 14.6% during the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,732,654 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $596,504,000 after acquiring an additional 603,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Lennar by 1,303.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 490,105 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,383,000 after acquiring an additional 455,174 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LEN. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Lennar from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore lowered their price target on Lennar from $89.00 to $82.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Zacks Research raised Lennar from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $113.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lennar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $99.87.

Lennar Company Profile

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) is a U.S.-based homebuilder and real estate company that designs, constructs and sells residential housing. The company offers a range of product types including single-family detached homes, townhomes and condominiums, serving buyers from entry-level and first-time purchasers to move-up, active-adult and luxury segments. Lennar also develops master-planned communities and manages land acquisition and entitlement activities that support its homebuilding operations.

In addition to home construction and sales, Lennar provides a suite of ancillary services intended to streamline the purchase process and capture additional value.