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

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) declared 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) annualized dividend 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%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Lennar has a dividend payout ratio of 17.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of LEN traded down $1.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $80.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,146,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,999,900. The stock has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.39. Lennar has a 52 week low of $75.70 and a 52 week high of $133.76. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $83.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 4.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on LEN shares. Argus set a $108.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Lennar in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Lennar from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price 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.