Lennar Co. (LEN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 on February 12th

Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 14th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the construction company on Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th.

Lennar has increased its dividend payment by an average of 26.0% annually over the last three years. Lennar has a dividend payout ratio of 13.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Lennar to earn $16.07 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 12.4%.

Lennar Price Performance

Lennar stock opened at $138.50 on Thursday. Lennar has a 52 week low of $128.41 and a 52 week high of $193.80. The firm has a market cap of $37.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 4.71. The business’s fifty day moving average is $154.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.57.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by ($0.12). Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Lennar will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total value of $3,064,775.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This trade represents a 42.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on LEN. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Lennar from $210.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.50.

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.