Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) Plans $0.50 Quarterly Dividend

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the construction company on Thursday, October 22nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 7th.

Lennar has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.8%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Lennar has a dividend payout ratio of 17.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Lennar to earn $5.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.5%.

Lennar Price Performance

NYSE:LEN traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $80.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,023,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,998,985. Lennar has a 12 month low of $75.70 and a 12 month high of $133.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 4.94 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.76.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 16th. The construction company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 4.09%.The firm’s revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Lennar from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. BTIG Research restated a “sell” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, September 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Lennar from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Lennar Company Profile

Lennar Corporation is one of the largest homebuilders in the United States. Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company designs, constructs, and sells single-family homes and communities for a range of buyers, including first-time, move-up, and active-adult purchasers.

Lennar operates across many of the country’s major housing markets, including communities in the West, Southwest, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and other metropolitan areas. Its homebuilding operations offer a variety of floor plans and home designs, while the company also develops residential communities and provides related services such as mortgage financing, title, and closing services through its financial-services businesses.

In addition to traditional homebuilding, Lennar has expanded into multifamily development and other residential real-estate activities.